I’m all in for lowering salaries, bonuses and golden parachutes for the way overpaid CEOs and greedy #WarProfiteers. And paying taxes is what we all must do. But when it comes to chopping off their heads, I’m with the Red Pimpernel. 🗽 Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite #Inequality #EqualPay
One of your most powerful pieces ever on a lengthy list of powerful pieces. I can hear the steam coming out of your ears. I hate to think it, but maybe some targeted violence is warranted now.
I would not encourage violence, although i fear it is inevitsble at present. Still, as the previously apathetic population wakes up, they--and we--can target not how/if we use our weapons, but our attention. Hear and see these fuckers for what and who they are, and then obviously reject them. Choose otherwise. Their power resides in our minds and how we place our attention.
That is the fear. Given the amount of weapons in this country, it's miraculous that there hasn't been more political violence. (There has been, of course, plenty of violence in the form of schotastic terror attacks, the mass shootings that happen everywhere, and which the GOP seem to welcome).
Spot on Greg!! I’ve said for years that the CEOS and all the other VPS of operations etc are making way too much money and what do they contribute to the bottom line?? When it’s time for the Union workers to get a raise... oh we can’t do that! The cost!! Companies always point their fingers at the workers that’s why cars, food, phones etc cost so much nvmd that the overlords are taking way more of the pie! Eff these bastards!
This is an incredible piece. You should email it to Biden as food for his next speech. Seriously. I kept finding sentences that seemed the best only to find another one. Finally settled on this thought:
“We must do everything we can to avoid a bloody outcome. We need to learn from history; Republicans, meanwhile, don’t even want to teach it properly.”
I’d go on and on praising your thinking and your writing (and how fun your parenthetical thoughts are) but I need to go back, read it again and send a link to a friend who is an Independent, see if it will get him to vote Blue in 2024. Wish me luck.
I've never understood anyone who worships a billionaire.
A billionaire is a bad person that has stepped on almost every single person along the way to get there.
They use our gov't to get there too. Think Bezos using the roads and USPS... think Elon modeling his sun solar business so he makes money from government subsidies.
America is summed up in our restaurant model.
We pay waiters squat and expect the patron to compensate them. Don't even talk about the busers or hostesses- they get next to nothing... fractions of the tips.
And I can't believe how we've just completely let politicians open laws up so the rich become ultra rich like this in the last 20 years. We pay more taxes than them, the percentages we pay vs them do not make for a healthy economy. It is breaking.
One of your finest pieces Greg, one many of us share in it’s poignancy!
I’m a huge fan of the guillotine, trebuchet and at times the gallows! However, with an obscene amount of tax dollars spent on non-lethal weaponry and militarization of policing. Revolution isn’t likely to find success for balancing the wealth disparity, or tax fairness in this country, only more bloodshed!
Breaking up the State-streets, Vanguards and Black-rocks, that control trillions of this economy, coupled with taxing the rich, would be a great place to start though!
Fact remains... the rich will always need serfs, and far too many have willfully accepted/succumbed to such fate!
I couldn’t agree more! The solution is simple: get everyone paying their fair share! What I really believe is going to ultimately save us from the current crisis is the Republicans’ tendency to keep shooting themselves in the foot with extremely unpopular policies, including the stripping of women’s rights. I’m optimistic enough to predict a Blue landslide next November and a righting of multitudes of wrongs.
It 'twas greed, I tell you. I saw it with young puzzled eyes.
Scene 1, U. of Texas School of Business, late 60s, amid the social restlessness and rearrangement of the time, the speculation of business students was the possibility of merchandising China. Statements with awesome pauses, "You could sell to a billion people...wow." were common, although most of the speakers were not indulging in the smoky pastimes of so many students. Of course, someone would inevitably point out that those billion or more had little or no money, no ready cash to buy anything unless you traded in rice or a new species of flu delivered through Hong Kong.
Then in the late 1970s - boom chakalaka - the export of American businesses, the type that could flourish in a cheap, almost slave labor economy started operations in China. Instead of the targeted production of a given product, with a break even point where costs, particular labor and transportation, were covered and profits started, the Chinese (and some SE Asian) labor allowed almost unlimited production of cheaper goods. The off flow of production of this scale was enough to start Dollar Stores of every sort, Tuesday Mornings for better goods, and the emperor of Chinese products, Wal-Mart, complete with a big red star on their building and a third of their goods from the Far East.
There is a graph of American labor wages and the profitability of US businesses. In the late 1970s the line for American wages started going flatter and flatter while allocation to the top went hockey stick. And, soon thereafter we had Republican administrations out of the wazoo. Homeless people wandering around in California didn't just cast long shadows of a new and scary morning, they would spread across the nation. Of course, no one wanted to tie one thing to another, least of all the governor of California headed uptown dragging along a host of ideological crazies.
Corporations started investing in think tanks and propaganda outlets to secure their roles with an amiable Hollywood face. In the end, however, they were just as demented as the laughing face, disconnected from the nation and the world of workers. It was merely a means to an end, profit and power working hand-in-hand to secure political residence. Political residence is a scary concept for a democracy.
So, now, with President Biden pushing the restoration of American manufacturing, the curve for worker wages should be moving upward, and it's complement of corporate profits should be reducing. Should be. We've passed the point of 'banana republic' some years back and working people are feeling the abuse every day. This is a quiet war, where the bridle and saddle just seem normal...but it is not.
Economics is always war with a discernible degree of turbulence everyday, rarely making the headlines but always there. You working outside today...it's only going up to 108? But, yes, there is work happening right now despite the conditions. I've done that much of my life. I know my sweat.
Are you thinking reconciliation? One side isn't. Are you thinking angry thoughts amid the sweat and endurance of another hot sonofabitch? One side isn't, really. Are you killing freedom-seeking people down on the Rio Grande? One side isn't. This is how the Bastille comes into being. It is - and has always been - a massive disregard of humanity and working people.
Judgment is coming...it's always there in the future.
Thanks for this, Billy. A nice summation. I hope judgment is coming. The irony is, their side thinks judgment comes from a god in the sky. Judgment must come from down here to do any good.
Greg, this was one of the best things you've done. You're gonna wake up one early morning as a political commentator, which I think you were always destined for anyway. You're too well prepared with literature, history and interviews of serious witnesses not to be so integrative of our status.
One of your best, Greg! I'm not sure about the timing of the economic revolution to come, but I agree that it IS coming. That, along with the attempted destruction of democracy, will eventually explode the left and independents. As for the right, i.e. MAGA Nation, they will probably try to join in and claim they thought of it first just like the reps in Congress who vote against the people they serve, then take credit when something is passed anyway. "Look at this bridge I got you!"
There is a revolution brewing, and I think the 2024 election will determine when it finally boils over. If our votes don't start to take care of the problem, I fear sustained violence is next. That seems to be what all societies on the brink eventually resort to, and we are on the brink for sure.
The one wild card is, we didn't have social media until now. How much impact does that have on people? Does it make them more docile, and less likely to revolt? Or will it unite them and organize them? Maybe it's a wash, I don't know. But this current model is unsustainable, and the GOP trying to take more? No. No. No.
Liberté, égalité, fraternité! = Unite! Organize! Revolt! Of course, I'm too old for this shit now, but I will wave a flag, wear a revolutionary t-shirt, and furnish refreshments. More shit Victor Shi's generation has to deal with!
I’m all in for lowering salaries, bonuses and golden parachutes for the way overpaid CEOs and greedy #WarProfiteers. And paying taxes is what we all must do. But when it comes to chopping off their heads, I’m with the Red Pimpernel. 🗽 Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite #Inequality #EqualPay
Enjoy 🤩 The Scarlet Pimpernel Full Movie 1982 - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpBkJ0Xb6ME
I love the original
It would be really great if heads did not literally roll, I agree.
Mob rule is the worst.
One of your most powerful pieces ever on a lengthy list of powerful pieces. I can hear the steam coming out of your ears. I hate to think it, but maybe some targeted violence is warranted now.
I would not encourage violence, although i fear it is inevitsble at present. Still, as the previously apathetic population wakes up, they--and we--can target not how/if we use our weapons, but our attention. Hear and see these fuckers for what and who they are, and then obviously reject them. Choose otherwise. Their power resides in our minds and how we place our attention.
That is the fear. Given the amount of weapons in this country, it's miraculous that there hasn't been more political violence. (There has been, of course, plenty of violence in the form of schotastic terror attacks, the mass shootings that happen everywhere, and which the GOP seem to welcome).
They don't just welcome it, they make them possible by keeping the military grade weapons on the street.
Greg Olear is the champion of great posts 👑
Thank you!
This is a filled-out version of Friday's rant. Steam has been pouring out for days. I'm like the subway in July.
Spot on Greg!! I’ve said for years that the CEOS and all the other VPS of operations etc are making way too much money and what do they contribute to the bottom line?? When it’s time for the Union workers to get a raise... oh we can’t do that! The cost!! Companies always point their fingers at the workers that’s why cars, food, phones etc cost so much nvmd that the overlords are taking way more of the pie! Eff these bastards!
They buy up ALL the God Real Estate too👿
And then just sit on it, leave it vacant, pushing the rest of us outward.
They are Trickle Down made flesh. It's disgusting.
This is an incredible piece. You should email it to Biden as food for his next speech. Seriously. I kept finding sentences that seemed the best only to find another one. Finally settled on this thought:
“We must do everything we can to avoid a bloody outcome. We need to learn from history; Republicans, meanwhile, don’t even want to teach it properly.”
I’d go on and on praising your thinking and your writing (and how fun your parenthetical thoughts are) but I need to go back, read it again and send a link to a friend who is an Independent, see if it will get him to vote Blue in 2024. Wish me luck.
Let's mail it to every Democratic Congress Person..all Cabinet Members and yes @POTUS. Nicolle Wallace,and @LawrenceMSNBC
Yes!!
Thanks, Mary Ann. I hope it works. The lessons of the French Revolution are scary and very applicable to the here and now.
It seems like the root of all evil is grounded in selfishness.
Yes, American greed
Yes, and the evil twin of that -- the lack of consideration for others, the destruction of empathy.
Incredible writing, Greg! Like Mary Ann said, send it to Biden asap!
WE NEED TO SEND IT TO ALL DEMOCRATS IN POWER
Thank you!
Not much for me to say, Greg, as you said it all in this brilliant diatribe! “All for one. One for all!”
Amen to that!
I've never understood anyone who worships a billionaire.
A billionaire is a bad person that has stepped on almost every single person along the way to get there.
They use our gov't to get there too. Think Bezos using the roads and USPS... think Elon modeling his sun solar business so he makes money from government subsidies.
America is summed up in our restaurant model.
We pay waiters squat and expect the patron to compensate them. Don't even talk about the busers or hostesses- they get next to nothing... fractions of the tips.
And I can't believe how we've just completely let politicians open laws up so the rich become ultra rich like this in the last 20 years. We pay more taxes than them, the percentages we pay vs them do not make for a healthy economy. It is breaking.
Corporate welfare. Nanny state of the ultra-rich. A disgrace.
One of your finest pieces Greg, one many of us share in it’s poignancy!
I’m a huge fan of the guillotine, trebuchet and at times the gallows! However, with an obscene amount of tax dollars spent on non-lethal weaponry and militarization of policing. Revolution isn’t likely to find success for balancing the wealth disparity, or tax fairness in this country, only more bloodshed!
Breaking up the State-streets, Vanguards and Black-rocks, that control trillions of this economy, coupled with taxing the rich, would be a great place to start though!
Fact remains... the rich will always need serfs, and far too many have willfully accepted/succumbed to such fate!
Frankly, it's almost like an extremely rich Middle Ages in some respects.
The relationships haven't really changed that much.
True dat William!
Agree.
We have better teeth.
Thanks, Patrick.
Yes, break up the monopolies! Smash them to bits!
I couldn’t agree more! The solution is simple: get everyone paying their fair share! What I really believe is going to ultimately save us from the current crisis is the Republicans’ tendency to keep shooting themselves in the foot with extremely unpopular policies, including the stripping of women’s rights. I’m optimistic enough to predict a Blue landslide next November and a righting of multitudes of wrongs.
I agree. I think the polls are bullshit, the MAGA are louder than everyone else, and the media confuses loudness for power. Landslide coming.
It 'twas greed, I tell you. I saw it with young puzzled eyes.
Scene 1, U. of Texas School of Business, late 60s, amid the social restlessness and rearrangement of the time, the speculation of business students was the possibility of merchandising China. Statements with awesome pauses, "You could sell to a billion people...wow." were common, although most of the speakers were not indulging in the smoky pastimes of so many students. Of course, someone would inevitably point out that those billion or more had little or no money, no ready cash to buy anything unless you traded in rice or a new species of flu delivered through Hong Kong.
Then in the late 1970s - boom chakalaka - the export of American businesses, the type that could flourish in a cheap, almost slave labor economy started operations in China. Instead of the targeted production of a given product, with a break even point where costs, particular labor and transportation, were covered and profits started, the Chinese (and some SE Asian) labor allowed almost unlimited production of cheaper goods. The off flow of production of this scale was enough to start Dollar Stores of every sort, Tuesday Mornings for better goods, and the emperor of Chinese products, Wal-Mart, complete with a big red star on their building and a third of their goods from the Far East.
There is a graph of American labor wages and the profitability of US businesses. In the late 1970s the line for American wages started going flatter and flatter while allocation to the top went hockey stick. And, soon thereafter we had Republican administrations out of the wazoo. Homeless people wandering around in California didn't just cast long shadows of a new and scary morning, they would spread across the nation. Of course, no one wanted to tie one thing to another, least of all the governor of California headed uptown dragging along a host of ideological crazies.
Corporations started investing in think tanks and propaganda outlets to secure their roles with an amiable Hollywood face. In the end, however, they were just as demented as the laughing face, disconnected from the nation and the world of workers. It was merely a means to an end, profit and power working hand-in-hand to secure political residence. Political residence is a scary concept for a democracy.
So, now, with President Biden pushing the restoration of American manufacturing, the curve for worker wages should be moving upward, and it's complement of corporate profits should be reducing. Should be. We've passed the point of 'banana republic' some years back and working people are feeling the abuse every day. This is a quiet war, where the bridle and saddle just seem normal...but it is not.
Economics is always war with a discernible degree of turbulence everyday, rarely making the headlines but always there. You working outside today...it's only going up to 108? But, yes, there is work happening right now despite the conditions. I've done that much of my life. I know my sweat.
Are you thinking reconciliation? One side isn't. Are you thinking angry thoughts amid the sweat and endurance of another hot sonofabitch? One side isn't, really. Are you killing freedom-seeking people down on the Rio Grande? One side isn't. This is how the Bastille comes into being. It is - and has always been - a massive disregard of humanity and working people.
Judgment is coming...it's always there in the future.
The coming food and water wars.
Thanks for this, Billy. A nice summation. I hope judgment is coming. The irony is, their side thinks judgment comes from a god in the sky. Judgment must come from down here to do any good.
Greg, this was one of the best things you've done. You're gonna wake up one early morning as a political commentator, which I think you were always destined for anyway. You're too well prepared with literature, history and interviews of serious witnesses not to be so integrative of our status.
Thanks so much, Billy. High praise, from you.
I so enjoy the blend of history, humor, and nostalgia. Sh boom indeed. This column in particular deserves a second read.
One of your best, Greg! I'm not sure about the timing of the economic revolution to come, but I agree that it IS coming. That, along with the attempted destruction of democracy, will eventually explode the left and independents. As for the right, i.e. MAGA Nation, they will probably try to join in and claim they thought of it first just like the reps in Congress who vote against the people they serve, then take credit when something is passed anyway. "Look at this bridge I got you!"
There is a revolution brewing, and I think the 2024 election will determine when it finally boils over. If our votes don't start to take care of the problem, I fear sustained violence is next. That seems to be what all societies on the brink eventually resort to, and we are on the brink for sure.
Thanks, Steve.
The one wild card is, we didn't have social media until now. How much impact does that have on people? Does it make them more docile, and less likely to revolt? Or will it unite them and organize them? Maybe it's a wash, I don't know. But this current model is unsustainable, and the GOP trying to take more? No. No. No.
Liberté, égalité, fraternité! = Unite! Organize! Revolt! Of course, I'm too old for this shit now, but I will wave a flag, wear a revolutionary t-shirt, and furnish refreshments. More shit Victor Shi's generation has to deal with!
You should write a book on this
Thanks, Art! Maybe I will...
WOW!
Bet you had a big adrenaline rush and brain orgasmic high upon concluding that great diatribe.
Get up off the floor and take a walk in the woods
Then,
"Keep Scribbling "
Thanks, Cal. This is a continuation and written version of my rant on Friday night's show, which was peppered with many more f-bombs.
My God Brilliant as always..I can't add a single thought,you covered everything ☑️💙☮️🇫🇷
Thanks so much!