The New Socialism - Autumn 2008 to now and forever

[truedelphi]

Can I point out to everyone here at DU that the good old fashioned, traditional, and "conservative" definition of Capitalism included the concept that those of the investment class made whatever choices regarding the market they wished to pursue, without government interference, and if they lost, they lost: i.e. they were then out the monies invested.

And since that part of the definition was always the accepted definition of Capitalism until the Reagan theories of the bastardized Milton Friedman concepts became the definer, for those of us holding to the old definition of Capitalism, Capitalism died the day that the Bush government put together the Paulson concept of "Too Big To Fail" and gave to the Federal Reserve and US Treasury the ability to bail out Wall Street on the backs of Main Street.

The moment that this new doctrine of Bailout and "Too Big To Fail" became operative, Capitalism as we knew it died. The rich and the investment class are now part of a New Socialism. This New Socialism has put eleven to thirty trillion bucks into the hands of the .05 % Uber Rich, while making the rest of us pay for it, through either the coming inflation or other methods, such as the soon-to-be hand over of the 2.1 surplus Social Security Fund to help reduce the deficit.

[truedelphi]

1. Whenever the economic "Savvy" Talking Heads begin their spiel

On TV or the radio, I wish this "New Socialism" would be pointed out.

It would make a big difference to my sanity.
When one of the pseudo Capitalists starts shrieking on TV about the needs of a Capitalist society to exist as it always has, how great it woul dbe if the moderator (or the fellow debaters - like Rachel Maddow), would clue them in and point out and say, "Capitalism died in the Autumn of 2008, and it is now a New Socialism propelling the monied class. So stop talking about Capitalism. Stop using the word. It died."

[girl gone mad]

2. k & r

People on the left often wonder why President Obama is called a "socialist" when so many of his policies are neo-liberal regressive. The bailouts, however, were indeed a form of socialism, with the rewards of productive society being redistributed to the oligarchs or power elites who now largely control our political system. Without this immense redistribution of wealth, many of these institutions and individuals would have been bankrupted by the same free market forces they long espoused as the sole solution to all of the world's ills.

I think it's time to redefine what it means to be a "Welfare Queen" in modern America. Today's "Welfare Queen" works for Goldman Sachs or a private defense contractor. This is typically an individual with no real world skills and no ability to compete in truly free markets. They depend entirely on highly leveraged political connections. They live large off of the fruit of the American workers and savers. They add no value to the American economy. Without government handouts, they would be lucky to be hired as burger flippers and Wal-Mart greeters. What's more they put Reagan's mythical "Welfare Queen" to shame with the amounts that they are able to mooch from the system.

[Agony]

8. Nice addition to the OP! So you are a "Goldman Welfare Queen" , huh?

kinda has a nice ring to it and needs to be shouted from the rooftops.

Cheers,
Agony

[truedelphi]

9. One of the ways that the Big Shots can mooch from the system.

When attending many hospital re-organization meetings, circa 2003 to 2005, a neighbor of mine was appalled that our local hospital was going to spend some three hundred thousand dollars on "digitizing the hospital records." To do this, the hospital CEO was claiming that they would be hiring software programmers to create the software to use for this purpose.

At first, I couldn't understand why A. was so upset. Given that most programmers cost about $ 60 an hour, and given how many hours they would need to work on this, just what was his gripe?

his reply? "Carol, think about it. This hospital is part of a chain of hospitals inside the state of California. Since they are a chain, things like software programs can be shared. I know of at least three other Sutter Hospitals that have the software up and running for their hospitals to have electronic records. So, just why does our hospital need to re-invent the wheel?"

And it was not surprising to me to realize that among the 700 Billion Dollar Plus Stimulus package designed and passed by Congress and signed by the President, was some twenty billion bucks to help the Hospital Chains continue to do this type of thing.

Meanwhile at least nine billion was reported missing in Iraq, and 68 billion is unaccounted for in Afghanistan.

[DirkGently]

15. Yep. Socialized risk & privatized profit.

[Starry Messenger]

3. This is pretty much what Capitalism is like.

There isn't any good or bad capitalism. We just never noticed the ill effects before because they were all taking place in our colonies *cough* foreign interests.

[DirkGently]

4. Redistribution of wealth ... upward. Great post.

[nashville_brook]

5. i heard Sam Seder say that Obama won't announce cuts to SS in the SOTU

and i thought, "this is what we've come to"? that, we're supposed to heave a sigh of relief that our Democratic President won't be cutting Social Security?

it's socialism for the rich, and free-market poverty for the rest of us.

i'm afraid what we have now is kleptocracy, b/c there's no other rational explanation. there's no grand "economic system" underneath the issues we're facing. it's just people with power running wild.

good post!

[truedelphi]

6. You are right - "kleptocracy" well defines

The entire process now underway.

[Agony]

7. Kick! and Rec!

well said!

[truedelphi]

10. Thank you.

An interesting user id you have, there, agony!

[DeSwiss]

11. K&R

Capitalism

Capitalism, even in theory, is bullshit. It is a design which assumes that some people have an "inherent right" to more of this planet's resources than any others.

What has occurred with Capitalism of late however, is the stripping away of the pretense that it is an all-powerful and balancing marketplace. One (we were once told), which is as close to nature that man could achieve. A place where good investment ideas would rise to the top -- while the bad ones would sink to the bottom to become fertilizer for all the new seedling ideas constantly being planted by new investors. A place where everyone can win. A place where no one would be too big to fail. Yeah, well bullshit!

Capitalism is CANCER. It is a metastasizing social tumor which devours anything and everything in its path because its profit and only its profit is its only concern. Capitalism is GREED. Capitalism is AVARICE. One cannot put a pretty face on Capitalism because its foundation is the bony skull of DEATH. Its underlying foundation and design, is one which ALWAYS takes more than it gives in return. Something which is contrary to nature. Even after a devastating tornado or a hurricane, nature brings new life in its wake. Not so with Capitalism. Even a single seed falling from a tree will result in thousands of new seeds if given a chance to root. That's nature at its finest.

Capitalism eats the seeds. All. Of. Them.

The term "The New Socialism" should indeed become the moniker for what we now have. Because the old term for what it truly is (fascism) has become meaningless. Like the word Nazi, once heard all you get is eyerolls. No one gives a shit about fascism or Nazis anymore.

- Which is why we are, where we are.....

"Waltzing at the Doomsday Ball"

The main feature of capitalism is the seductive assertion that you can get something for nothing in this world. That you can manufacture wealth through money manipulation, and that it is OK to steal and hold captive the people's medium of exchange, then charge them out the ass for access. That you can do so with a clear conscience. Which you can, if you are the kind of sleazy prick who has inherited or stolen enough wealth to get into the game. Even so, to keep a rigged game going, you must keep the suckers believing they can, and eventually will, benefit from the game.

It ain't robbery, it's a business cycle

Capitalism is about one thing: aggregating the surplus productive value of the public for private interests. As we have said, it is about creating state sanctioned "investments" for the workers who produce the real wealth. Things like home "ownership" and mortgages, or stock investments and funds to absorb their retirement savings. That crushing 30-year mortgage with two refis is an investment. So is that 401K melting like a snow cone at the beach.

As the people's wealth accumulates, it is steadily siphoned off by government and elite private forces. From time to time, it is openly plundered for their benefit by way of various bubbles, depressions or recessions and other forms of theft passed off as unavoidable acts of nature/god. These periodic raids and draw downs of the people's wealth are attributed to "business cycles." Past periodic raids and thefts are heralded as being proof of the rationale. "See folks, it comes and goes, so it's a cycle!" Economic raids and busts become "market adjustments."

Public blackmail and plundering through bailouts become "necessary rescue packages." Giveaways to corporations under the guise of public works and creating employment become "stimulus." The chief responsibility of economists is to name things in accordance with government and corporate interests. The function of the public is to acquire debt and maintain "consumer confidence." When the public staggers to its feet again and manages to carry more debt, buy more poker chips on credit to play again, it's called a recovery. They are back in the game.

~ http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2010/07/waltzing.html">Joe Bageant

[txlibdem]

13. +1

We are all well and truly F**KED.

[groovedaddy]

12. "New Socialism" = Fascism. n.t REC

[blindpig]

14. It's still Capitalism.

Capital's necessary exploitation of government and the rise and dominance of finance capital were both predicted by Marx.

The scenario which you pine for did exist for a short period in US history, around the 1830's, but the growth of capitalism necessarily snuffed it, the intrinsic necessity of growth was the killer.

Capitalism is a historical process.

[txlibdem]

16. "A tiger cannot change his spots"

That's an inside joke my dad used to say every time a politician was on TV making promises. I never got it till I studied enough of the real US history (not the pablum and indoctrination served up in history and civics class).

Those who most benefit most from Capitalism, and their handmaidens in government, claim to be something they are not, claim that Capitalism will do for us all things that it never has, never will and never could. And they have convinced the rest of us that the lie is the truth: that eventually we will all share in the vast treasures that Capitalism will shower down upon us.

[truedelphi]

17. Hi there,

Blind pig.

you are right on this matter.

I am only hoping to establish a small "talking point" that would drive the discussion into Truth and away from the endless lies of the propaganda crowd...

When slime like Steve Moore (Who was on Bill Maher show Friday night) spew this stuff about Capitalism, well, we need a concise talking point to stuff a sock in it.

(BTW the Friday night, Jan 21st 2011, show was terrific and probably you can get parts of it on YouTube, maybe? )