History is filled with changing economic times.
There have been boom times where many lives were lifted out
of poverty and financial disasters where the opposite route was taken.
Governments tend to bring order to the land and if possible
stability.
Strong governments are fine as long as they incorporate
checks and balances such as the basic hierarchy of the United States.
But without those features strong governments may turn harsh
and corrupt as in North Korea and several Middle Eastern lands. A government
that rules with an iron fist has many dangers.
But weak governments are worse and open the door to a coup
or at the very least a loss of control that spirals down to anarchy.
Nations have been experimenting with different forms of
government for centuries and naturally we in America believe ours, while
terribly flawed is the best one in existence.
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| The lord of the Feifdom lived within these walls. |
The Middle Ages saw a long period with no strong centralized
government. The land was generally ruled
by lords of the land. These landlords
used the labor of what some might consider slaves to work the land for them as
a method of paying off a debt.
The debt could be a fine for something bad the pauper had
done or a fee for food he needed to survive.
He might owe money to the powers of the day because he sought to marry
and asked the landlord to grant him a hut in which to live. The landlord might oblige in return for
favors with the bride and the use of the child’s labor once old enough to work.
But the bottom line was the ‘free’ man was indebted to the
landlord and could lose all including his life if he stopped paying what he
owed.
One could be excused for confusing this type of situation as
slavery but history branded these poor unfortunates, serfs.
Other ‘ages’ followed such as that of enlightenment and the
industrial revolution and while the World moved on toward our current modern
times it was not without an occasional hiccup.
There were World Wars and the rise of Communism which in many
ways can be considered just another form of feudalism. And many humans still live under totalitarian
rule.
We survived the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing
great depression.
We enjoyed the post war era that ushered in the Middle Class
and general prosperity for a majority of Americans.
We continued our rise as the most admired nation in the
World and have seen continued immigration throughout and past the 20th
century.
But along with our march toward a more perfect union we have
taken a huge step backwards. And if we
are not careful we will end up back in a new age version of Feudalism as the
most affluent among us look for easy prey among the less fortunate. You might
be excused for coining a new phrase as they GO SERFING!
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| Not your daddy's idea of surfing |
Before you dismiss this out of hand as absurd think about
all the other times people sat back and allowed their lives to be turned upside
down and ruined due to complacency and denial.
As I stated earlier there are millions of humans living
under the total control of a small number of evil greedy dictators even today!
And there are more would be tyrants plotting the takeover of
other countries going on as well.
But think something like that cannot happen in America?
You know what’s coming, THINK AGAIN.
Our steady march to the Middle Ages began decades ago
But as with any slow and steady movement it may be hard to
notice the trend until it affects your life.
To wit we first fast forward to 2008 and back to 1929.
We will bounce around in time from then but it’s a
fantastic place to start as the lives of so many people were adversely affected
in ways they may not overcome in their lifetime.
I offer herewith a dozen examples of how the wealthy are SERFING, SERFING USA!
1 – SECOND 'GREAT DEPRESSION' SERFING – As a result of the financial
meltdown caused by the greed and subsequent appeasement of the wealthiest among
us millions were thrown into turmoil for no fault of their own.
In fact the only ones not hurt by the financial crisis were
the very same people who caused it!
It’s hard to believe it’s almost 6 years since the collapse
of Lehman Brothers.
And the key players are not only still in power but have
cemented their positions. They have
gained more wealth than one would have thought possible just a few short years
ago.
And as far as catch phrases go; ‘Too big to fail’ has
morphed into ‘Too big to jail.’
None of these criminals have or will see the inside of a
cell unless it’s to visit those of us who end up in debtors’ prison. Or maybe it should be called serfer’s prison.
I know it does not exist – yet.
2 – PARASITIC SERFING – If a company came to you and asked
you to promote their product wouldn't you expect some form of compensation?
Let’s say you’re an athlete and Nike asked you to wear theirnew sport shoe so they could get a following and make a killing in the
market. Wouldn't it be nice if you could
make a few pennies off their fortune as well?
If you are an athlete in college the powers that be say you
are not only NOT entitled to get any money off the sale of your image or the
promotion of your name etc but if you do accept money you could lose your
scholarship and standing in the NCAA!
In other words the lords of college sports and businesses
that make money off those sports have conspired to turn you into fodder for
their feudal system.
Welcome the real world, Undergrad Serf, it's only the beginning.
3 – RETIREE SERFING – The awful buyers’ job market has
spawned a new terminology, one that should strike fear into the hearts of every
near retirement age American; Middle Age Interns!
Everyone knows it is immoral to use unpaid interns to do the
job that a full time employee has done or could do but if you complain, well, see ya around pal!
Businesses don’t have to rely on workers sending in resumes
anymore. In fact many consider spending
a dime on a ‘worker needed’ ad to be foolish as well as time consuming.
Who has the time to read through the thousands of resumes
you will receive from incredibly overqualified serfs?
And besides, they can serf the web or put a sign on the
front door for hopefuls to drop their papers in the mail slot.
4 – COLLEGE GRAD SERF – If you were a casualty of the 2008
middle class employment massacre that saw millions ‘laid off’ you suddenly
found yourself in the same job pool as your dad or every other new college
graduate.
With a tremendously large number of draft choices from which
to choose and abuse businesses quickly learned from history.
You want a job?
You have debt?
You have a high rate student loan?
Would you like to intern with us? We might even offer you a job if you work out
well! (Or not.)
This offer of an unpaid form of servitude should be followed
by, ‘of course I’ll respect you in the morning!’
However more businesses will say they can hire you but with
business down they’ll have to pay you less than half what you are worth.
Oh and forget about a pension or other
benefits. Those are only for me and my
friends. You know the ones who can
afford to buy their own with the tremendous profits we will be keeping off your
labors.
And don’t think about leaving before normal quitting time or getting paid
vacations. In fact I may need you to
work a little late, every night off the books of course!
Don’t like the deal?
NEXT SERF!
5 –PEACE OF MIND SERF – Insurance companies have long
considered the average human to be an annuity for them. First they put the fear of disease or death
in your head and then they sit back and count their money as you are forced to
buy their product.
Insurance in all forms is sold on a “Peace of mind” platform
that lulls one into a stupor thinking you are covered in case of an
emergency. Sadly it isn't until you have
an emergency that you find you didn't buy the right insurance or you neglected to note
the size 4 font at the bottom of the contract you signed.
So sorry but you aren't covered for that!
You can fight and argue but does anyone really believe a
lowly serf can defeat the armies of the overlords and their banks of attorneys? Dumb Serf!
6 – KEEP THE SERF DOWN – And speaking of banks how’s that
interest rate you’re receiving?
Is it enough to keep your head above the rate of inflation?
No?
That’s odd since the inflation rate is so low!
Didn't we bail those banks out with our money, our jobs,
and our futures? So the least you should receive in return is a small amount of
payback, right?
Hah, you are such a cute Serf!
7 – RELIGIOUS SERFING – But banks take a back seat to the
oldest profession in the world. No I am
not speaking of prostitution although in many ways it fits.
Even older than selling your body was the fine art of
selling eternal peace, AKA organized religion.
Religion is the worship of anything and in the case of today’s,
and yesterday’s religions that thing money!
The only thing scarier than an angry overlord is a so called
holy man threatening an uneducated person with eternal damnation.
The preaching snake behind the pulpit is a constant reminder
of the talking snake of Adam and Eve fame.
Religion has been around for centuries.
It was started when someone realized he could scare the hell, as it were out of another man by telling him lies of biblical proportions.
Perhaps after two men were fighting an eclipse of the sun
happened and one guy jumped at the idea of the first religious scam. He could tell everyone he caused the eclipse
because he was angry!
He asked his friend the creature of the sky to make others do as he
wished or face eternal darkness. The creature obeyed him with a small taste of
what that might be.
Not wanting to face that terrible future others treated the
lying scam artist with more respect than he deserved. Little by little the lie became fact and his
power grew.
He passed his evil joke onto his heirs and the lineage of
the faithful serfs began.
They gave what little they had to the man who spoke with the
gods of the sky. And they did so as
faithfully as did the shop owners of Little Italy when paid protection was
demanded by the powers that be.
And the rest is history.
8 – NON UNIONIZED SERFING – There is a virtual moat around
the castle that is big business these days.
It is as impossible to ford as is the proverbial glass ceiling to break for
most women.
Maybe if enough of us get together and form some kind of group
we can finally go back across the Rubicon or rise above the invisible barrier
to what once was an attainable American Dream.
Maybe we could form a union of sorts.
Oh, wait. Those have
been under attack ever since Ronald Reagan realized their inherent danger to
the wealth and prosperity of the feudal lords.
When PATCO had the nerve to desire pay equal to their skills
and importance Lord Trickle Down broke them and the trend has continued to this
day!
Nowadays unions are under attack from every quarter and when
the ones that still exist make any headway in talks with management they are
vilified for causing rates to go up and costs to rise on non-unionized
serfs.
Why you may ask would this happen? Well in case you haven’t been paying
attention there is no way management will lower their profit margins one cent
so any give backs to unions will be passed along.
9 – STAGNATION SERFING – And as far as not paying attention
goes have you noticed how little the Republican Party has done over the last 5
or 6 years?
They have stopped or tried to stop every ounce of progress
or measure aimed at getting America back on the road to prosperity in favor of
lowering taxes for the overlords.
They have proposed cuts to every social measure known to man
while giving their full support to the serf makers. Please don’t call them job makers anymore
it’s embarrassing to anyone with a brain.
And still they are in office!
Polls show they will stay in office and even stand a chance
to gain a majority in both chambers of Congress.
But with a little luck we can vote these dolts, these
puppets of the overlords out of office and elect a more enlightened group to
lead us out of our fiefdom.
We must break from our role as Voter Serfs!
10 – SUFFRAGE SERFING – (Nice segue, no?) Well it will take a lot more than
luck since the landlords have hit upon another method to keep the slave revolt
from taking place, blocking voter’s rights.
Many serfs cannot afford to take time off from work to vote on
Election Day or their lords may insist they work a few extra 'off the book' hours
on that Tuesday.
Luckily many states have early voting days and same day
registration and extended hours if lines are long.
Oh wait, those have been ruled out by every State with a Republican held
majority across America.
And even if you can get to the polling booth on time you may
not be allowed to vote if you are a woman who has been divorced and you don’t
carry proof of your married name change with you.
You cannot vote if you have ever been arrested or perhaps
look like you have been arrested or if the guy at the front door of the polling
place doesn't like your face!
Voter’s rights are going the way of the unions in our
American fiefdom and it will take a huge concerted effort to stem that tide
from drowning our freedom.
11 – KEEP ON SERFING – The righteous fight for Democracy in
America will take a great deal of money.
And it is money most of us do not have.
The vast majority of workers are paid far less than they
deserve and many take home levels considered below the poverty line.
The meager money these workers make forces the government to
subsidize them with programs such as food stamps from SNAP.
But the same companies that pay their workers these
obscenely low wages spend fortunes to stop any increase to the federal minimum
wage laws. They vilify these low paid
workers calling them lazy takers.
The truth is it is the CEOs of the large corporations who
are the takers.
With their ownership of five ninths of the Supreme Court
they have taken our labor, our money and our futures and placed them firmly in
their off shore tax havens.
The ‘Citizen’s United’ ruling clearly unites only the
citizens with unlimited wealth, aka our new overlords.
And these overlords of America fight anything that threatens
their fortunes.
They have grown so sure of themselves that they were totally
blindsided when their last champion lost his bid for the White House. They were so certain he was going to win the
Presidential election and take back America from the low class takers that even
when the polls closed and they showed a massive victory for the other guy they
sat stunned claiming fraud. It was a pathetic show of hubris but certainly not their first and surely not their last.
Serfs of America may be forgiven for a bit of schadenfreude but sadly it didn't last and it was soon business as usual in Feudal America.
12 – SERF THE IGNORANT – The overlords are even waging a war on
education and science refusing to believe in any man made or man assisted
climate change. Perhaps they feel if
they keep their heads in the sand or somewhere else the sun doesn't shine
nothing will stop their ascension to total lords of the World.
Friends of the wealthy who perpetrate and perpetuate this
perp-laden practice regularly appear on friendly networks such as Rupert
Murdoch’s FOX to keep the under educated just that.
Lulling the masses to sleep with tales of how the Democrats
are out to take away your freedom or worse, your guns scare their base almost
as much as did the preachers of old.
And since the Republican Party is the puppet of the wealthy
one must conclude that they realize an educated electorate is their worst nightmare.
Sad ill-informed Serfs!
Anyone with a brain or a modicum of intelligence must feel
frustrated to do anything about this system.
If we continue to act as if it’s futile to fight we will
end up in a feudal light!
If all we do is Bitch Boys (and girls) nothing will change.
Our leaders have abdicated the throne to the landlords of
the Fiefdom and as the glaciers melt and the oceans rise one wonders if they
can swim.
They had better learn fast.
But until then sadly they will continue to serf.
Because everybody’s Serfin, serfin USA.
If we all had a notion
Across the USA
Then no lords would be
serfin’
Like they are today!
