[內容簡介] 本文作者大衛•德格瑞是美國著名的社會活動家，他較早提出了美國0.1%超級富豪與99.9%民眾對立的觀點，得到了美國占領華爾街運動的抗議民眾的廣泛響應。本文摘自他的重要著作《2012年的道路抉擇：大變革或第三次世界大戰》。全文2011年2月發表于美國一家重要進步網站(Ampedstatus.org)，共分為三個部分，此處為其中第一部分“新自由主義的經濟統治”的譯文，有少量刪節。文中深入分析了新自由主義在全球范圍造成的社會惡果，正在從中東、西歐到北美地區激起廣泛的民眾反抗運動，特別是列舉了大量反映美國社會經濟和政治現實的事實、數據，揭露了美國爆發危機以來社會矛盾日趨尖銳的現狀——廣大民眾正面臨失去住房、工作、財產和福利保障的威脅，日趨擴大的貧富差距正加劇社會不滿和反抗情緒，隨時都可能激發類似中東、歐洲國家的社會劇烈動蕩。原文發表之時“占領華爾街”運動尚未發生，但作者以其精到有力的分析充分預見到，美國民眾必將在不久的將來走上街頭、發出自己的聲音。該文對人們今天回過頭來考察美國“占領華爾街”運動的興起，分析這一運動同中東、西歐國家此起彼伏的民眾抗議浪潮的聯系，理解當前世界格局正在發生的大變革，都具有重要的參考價值。

　　[譯文]

　　橫掃歐洲的各國抗議活動一波未平，2011年以來北非和中東一些國家風云又起。這最新一輪反抗行動和之前遍布歐洲的抗議活動之間存在著聯系，而主流媒體對此避而不談。我們正在見證著一場不斷擴散的反抗新自由主義經濟霸權的國際浪潮。盡管每個國家的動蕩都有其內在的特征，但各國的核心問題都與生活成本上升、就業機會不足和社會保障缺失有關。全世界的形勢都是一樣的：隨著食品和生活必需品的價格飛漲，失業和貧困程度不斷加劇。

　　無論各國民眾認識到與否，這些抗議活動實際上都是要反對一整套經過精心設計的用來壓榨勞工階級、降低人民生活水平、增加個人債務、激化財富分配不平等的全球經濟政策。現有的抗議活動只不過剛開了個頭。

　　以國際貨幣基金組織、世界銀行和美聯儲為中心的國際金融壟斷集團，在全世界到處賄賂、收買各地的政客和獨裁者們，從華盛頓、希臘到埃及，在一個又一個國家，它們不惜以當地人民福祉為代價掠奪各國財富，令極少數超級富豪的財富積累達到登峰造極的地步，位居財富排行前千分之一的最富有的超級富豪們，僅是所擁有的可投資性財產就超過40萬億美元，這還沒有把藏匿于離岸賬戶中的同樣數目驚人的財富計算在內。

　　國際貨幣基金組織謀劃的攫取財富、壓迫人民的經濟帝國主義政策已經實施了幾十年。凡是對經濟帝國主義做過些研究的人都會知道，世界經濟是被一個高度集權的有計劃、有預謀實行新自由主義統治的寡頭集團所掌控。

　　1.高度集權的有計劃、有預謀的經濟壓迫

　　國際貨幣基金組織有一套屢試不爽的征服各國經濟的策略。四個月前我曾警告過，國際貨幣基金組織政策誘發的全球性騷亂已開始出現。更早一些時候，2010年10月，在同邁克斯·凱澤一起進行的電視訪談節目中，我們曾經討論過，泄露出來的世界銀行檔案中揭秘了國際貨幣基金組織的策略。我當時曾指出：“他們制定了一個四步驟策略以摧毀一國國民經濟……我們即將進入所謂的第三步，在這一階段，該國經濟遭到了掠奪，食品和基本生活必需品一夜之間更加昂貴、更難獲得，然后，第3.5步，就是該國將發生騷亂。我們正在急速地滑向這一階段……正如國際貨幣基金組織所說和所計劃的那樣，我們正在向第3.5步邁進：國際貨幣基金型騷亂。這種情況就要來臨 ……”。

　　根據世界銀行新發布的數據，到2010年6月為止，“食品價格的上漲已經把發展中國家大約4400萬人口推入到貧困之中。“

　　就當美聯儲主席伯南克宣布實行第二輪量化寬松政策之時，一直關注著此事的我們知道，扳機已經扣動，第三步策略已經在實施當中。那就相當于一場經濟戰爭的宣言書，對數以千萬計的人們宣判了經濟意義上的死刑——故意地讓美元貶值，推動商品和生活必需品的價格飛漲。誠然，還有若干導致食品價格上漲的重要誘因，例如極端的天氣條件，生物燃料的生產，華爾街的投機，等等;但是，美聯儲的政策無疑是在故意火上澆油。

　　從中東到北非，處于新自由主義經濟帝國體系的邊緣，而且最容易受到美聯儲通脹性政策傷害的這些國家，首先奮起反抗了。在分析美國的形勢之前，我們先近距離地考察一下引發了埃及、突尼斯等地騷亂的新自由主義經濟政策。

　　2.經濟帝國主義：國際貨幣基金組織對埃及等國的掠奪

　　中東和北非的民眾正在起來反抗當局獨裁者。然而，這些“獨裁者”正是聽命于國際貨幣基金組織的。一份來自全球化問題研究中心的報告披露了一些背景和史實：“全球擴張性資本主義與阿拉伯國家獨裁者之間存在同盟關系，阿拉伯獨裁者和暴君服務于有組織的國際資本之利益，理解這一點至關重要。這是他們的首要職能。他們是這個由有組織的國際資本所形成的全球體系的構成要素之一。1977年埃及曾爆發了反對穆罕默德·安瓦爾·埃爾·薩達特(穆巴拉克的前任)政權的抗議和騷亂。引發抗議的源頭就是國際貨幣基金組織傳授給薩達特的新自由主義政策。國際貨幣基金組織的政策取消了政府對基本日常生活商品的補貼，食物價格漲幅驚人，埃及人民深受其害。阿拉伯人民認識到這樣一個事實：統治他們的階級及政府不僅腐敗橫行，而且是買辦精英，是國外利益集團、政府和利益在國內的代言人。在埃及，加麥爾·穆巴拉克(當時正被其父作為總統接班人培養)任職于美洲銀行。在突尼斯，本·阿里是一名受訓于法國和美國軍事學校的軍官，曾在職為兩國的經濟利益服務。在黎巴嫩，西尼奧拉在成為總理之前曾是花旗銀行一名官員……在腐化的巴勒斯坦當局中，薩拉姆·法耶茲曾效力于組成了美聯儲和世界銀行的成員銀行之一。更有甚者，幾乎所有的阿拉伯國家財政長官都服從于主要的全球銀行機構，他們中的任何一個都嚴格地遵守著國際貨幣基金組織和世界銀行推行的華盛頓共識。”

　　埃及的動蕩，是對無情掠奪的全球資本主義的直接反彈，對此高盛公司前員工普林斯披露了更多細節：“埃及所發生的革命既是對當權者的反抗，也是對經濟環境極度惡化的抗議。國內腐敗叢生，當局實行的政策用美國中央情報局的術語是叫作‘大力實行經濟改革以吸引外國投資’(換言之，就是進行私有化，把國家金融體系售與國際金融大鱷)，使得經濟穩定的基礎遭到侵蝕。埃及對外資采取了一種類似來者不拒的政策，但是，那些外國投機操作并未減少貧困，也沒有帶來更多的工作機會。實際上，無論是銀行、對沖基金還是私人股權基金，都必然是貪得無厭地尋求獲利機會，這只會帶來與引資初衷相反的效果。當人們面對著這樣一幅慘淡的前景時，不愿再坐以待斃。具有諷刺意味的是，埃及投資部的宣傳資料將大量大學畢業生招攬進入勞動力市場，每年達32.5萬人。正是這些畢業生，成為近來革命運動的核心力量。他們沒有充足的工作機會，不得不面臨著一個接近于10%的官方失業率(與美國情況相似，這個數字并沒有把就業不足、工作環境惡劣或缺乏上升空間等情況計算在內)。值得注意的是，有20%的埃及人民生活于貧困之中。至于美國，經濟統計數據也不樂觀。在某些指標的衡量下，例如收入不平等方面，美國比埃及的情況還要差。”

　　3.美埃兩國經濟比照：不平等及貧困問題

　　美國的經濟統計數據與埃及不相上下，而對這些實際情況，美國主流媒體的宣傳家們并沒有進行報道。

　　在埃及國內，收入不平等的程度已經達到創紀錄的水平。“他們都是不滿于日益加劇的不平等……金字塔的頂層正變得越來越富”，中東戰略研究院國際問題研究所的埃米勒這樣說道。美國主流媒體對埃及“壓迫性”和“腐敗性”的財富不平等大加評論;然而，近年來美國財富分布的不平等也達到了前所未有的嚴重程度，基尼系數達到了0.45,相比較埃及的0.344、也門的0.37、突尼斯的0.40，在這四個國家中，美國才是最不平等、“壓迫性”和“腐敗性”最強的國家。

　　食品價格的飛漲，使得食品支出在人們的總收入中占了更大的比例，這對埃及和突尼斯這樣的國家影響很大，因此在激起抗議活動方面起了關鍵作用。然而在美國，整體生活成本也顯著地升高了。這些成本包括醫療支出、居住費用、交通和教育支出等，按家庭(四口之家)年均收入2.2萬美元這一貧困水平計算的美國貧困率，與埃及的貧困率相當。根據美國中央情報局發布的數據，埃及的貧困率是20%。埃及有8300萬人口，20%就意味著有1660萬埃及人處于貧困之中。美國的人口是3.09億，當前的貧困率是16.8%，也就是說，有5200萬人口生活在貧困線以下。可見，美國的貧困人口規模是遠遠高于中東和歐洲的。當然總的來說，與埃及相比，美國的人口在地理分布上更加分散;但是，如果分解一下人口分布特征就會發現，美國許多大都市的貧困率要高于埃及現在的20%那個水平。考慮到這一點，加上政府的統計數據又存在著低估，美國九大主要城市的貧困率都已超過了25%。

　　4.債務奴役：失業者、就業不足者、報酬過低者、身陷債務者

　　美國的官方失業率與埃及的官方失業率幾乎相同，都在9%到10%之間徘徊。就業市場的疲弱不振，工資的下降，福利的減少，教育成本的上揚，這一切已經使得年輕的大學畢業生們幾乎別無選擇，不得不大量負債。當初，幾百萬美國學生各借用了幾萬美元的助學貸款以支付教育費用，他們原本以為通過受教育能夠獲得找個好工作所需的技能。他們那時從未想過，自己將來會有可能失業，找不到全職工作，或是收入比起當時的那些從業者要少得多。大部分年輕的工人，在他們二十多歲或是剛過而立之年時，所負擔的債務之巨就足以用他們大半輩子來償還。他們這一生注定要為債務而打工了。

　　最近，邁克·惠特尼采訪了艾倫·納塞爾，專訪題目叫“助學貸款陷阱”。以下為對話摘錄：

　　“邁克：借款者有沒有可能通過宣布破產來擺脫助學貸款的償還義務?

　　艾倫：這是不可能的，貸款的學生無法通過宣布破產來擺脫這一財務負擔。這類最基本的保護性條款本來也許能適用于負債的學生，只可惜在契約設計上已經明確地剝奪了學生借款人的一整套基礎保護條款。我所說的可不止是破產這一條，而且涉及到借款資質的限制、再融資的權利。國會已經提出，所有這些保護性條款都不能適用于聯邦核準的助學貸款。同一法規還賦予了貸款回收機構一些難以想像的權力，例如扣留工資和社會補貼甚至是致殘后的賠償款。司法部門采取延期發放國家認證的職業證照、中止公共事業部門雇用等各種措施，以確保回收貸款的公司能夠從破產了的助學貸款使用者那里抽取資金血液。在所有類型的債務中，助學貸款是最具有懲罰性質的——這其中大多數苛刻的措施，信用卡公司根本不可能獲準使用。

　　邁克：那是不是可以這樣理解——助學貸款產業就是一個陷阱，瞄準了那些永遠還不清債務的借款人?這些學生是不是類似于那些被誘使支取次級貸款的人?現在這筆錢的規模有多大，其中又有多少是已經無法償還或即將無法償還的?

　　艾倫：這樣理解未嘗不可。首先，助學貸款的資金盤子很大，各類學校中的大部分學生都有債務在身。公立的學院和大學中，在冊62%的學生是負有債務的;身負債務的在校生的比例，在非盈利性私立學校和盈利性私立學校當中，更分別高達72%和96%。到2010年夏天為止，助學貸款的債務總額據稱已達8300億美元，超過了美國信用卡債務總額的8270億美元，已膨脹到存在大量泡沫的程度。況且，助學貸款的債務規模還在以每年900億美元的速度繼續增長。”

　　這些學生根本不會預見到一場經濟危機就要發生，況且他們也不可能像借給他們錢的那些銀行一樣得到救助。畢業生們急需工作，但是在新增的有限的崗位中，要么不是全日制的臨時性的工作，要么是缺乏醫療和養老福利的低收入領域。綜合以上狀況來看，這就是一個將帶來災難性后果的惡性循環。考慮到這個群體的人口規模，扛著這么多債務，在這么血氣方剛的年齡段上，前途障礙重重，選擇少得可憐，所以你就不難感受到“山雨欲來風滿樓”的革命氣息了。

　　真實情況與主流媒體和政客們鼓吹的說辭截然不同，在經濟運行中工作崗位仍然以令人震驚的速度不斷流失。零點基金近來發布了一份由經濟學家大衛·羅森伯格撰寫的報告，名為《美國失業狀況慘不忍睹》，其中提到：“真可笑，每個人都以為美國的就業市場正在向好……來自家庭部門調查的數據簡直是荒唐。在過去的兩個月里，勞動力人口驟降了76.4萬人，失業人數減少了120萬，這是前所未有的。這兩個月，未被計入勞動力人口的人數猛增了75.3萬。所公布的一些數字只是簡單地從表格里面摘出來，也許正反映出失業群體開始失去他們的后續性福利，并且不再繼續搜尋工作(他們中2/3的人并沒能夠找到一份新工作)。這些人只好去尋求救濟，或者是依靠配偶、家人、朋友來養活。”

　　鮑勃·赫伯特的評論是：“政策制定者不告訴我們，新創造出來的寥寥無幾的工作崗位實際上都不怎么樣，薪水低，福利很少甚至沒有。我們所聽到的數據是一星期好過一星期，實情又如何呢?2010年，城市人口增加了187.2萬。與此同時，勞動大軍減少了16.7萬。不在就業崗位的人口飆升了209.4萬。僅在1月份，我們就看到有31.9萬人被辭退。這些數字是令人難以置信的。這是一個高度紊亂的就業市場。”

　　在美國，有超過600萬人已經失業超過半年，這是歷史最高水平。如果將長期失業者、正在尋找全日制工作的打零工者計入總的失業狀況，那么就有超過3000萬美國人正在等待就業。

　　5.美國夢的終結

　　美國爆發的房貸違約危機，自發生以來已經牽涉到了700萬人，但危機并沒有偃旗息鼓，而是愈演愈烈。大衛·威爾士在總結這場進一步發酵中的危機時說，美國房屋擁有者中近30%正處于雷區當中。他說：“全國房價已經比去年同期跌了5.9%，與2006年6月的峰值相比，已經縮水了27%。2010年第四季度，美國家庭住宅的總市值下降了7980億美元，而2010年全年，縮水超過了2萬億美元。美國資不抵債(所貸的房款比其房屋市價還多)的房屋所有者的數量，到2010年底已大幅上升到總人數的27%，而在2010年第三季度時還處于23.2%的水平。在2011年2月9日毛里求斯舉行的一次會議上，經濟學家約瑟夫·斯蒂格利茨作出預測，在700萬件違約紀錄的基礎上，2011年還將增加200萬件違約。2010年，銀行已收回了100萬套住房，而2011年的情況會更糟。大約有500萬貸款者已經拖欠還款達兩個月以上。”

　　6.引發革命的舉動：減少對富人的稅負，降低給窮人的救濟

　　值得關注的是，如今當局拋出的所有新政策和新提案，無論在州一級還是在聯邦一級，都是要削減社會公共服務。奧巴馬首次公布的削減開支方案就瞄準了低收入者。

　　如同薩隆所報道的那樣，奧巴馬的新策略就是打擊窮人，“為了證明財政赤字是十分‘嚴肅的’，白宮提出要削減一項補貼家庭取暖費的項目——低收入家庭能源援助項目。2009年該項支出為51億美元，將來要減少到25億美元左右。”消息傳出后，激發了廣泛的憤慨。尤其是有一段話表明了白宮意欲通過對最無依無靠的、在寒冷冬季里付不起取暖費的美國人民顯示出強硬態度，來換取政治上的優勢。如果白宮真的想讓美國人相信財政預算紀律是很嚴肅的，就應該把精力加倍地放在削減給石油公司的補貼或是取消對富人的減稅政策。

　　就在幾千億美元資金以減稅的方式向各類百萬富翁、億萬富翁輸送之后，社會安全網正在遭遇嚴厲苛刻的削減。在州一級，一份來自美國預算與政策選擇中心的報告透露，“31個州已經公布了2012財年(大多數州的財年是從7月1日算起)的初步預算案，這已經是連續第四年了，各州預算都提出要大幅地砍掉一些教育、醫療和其他重要公共服務的支出。”

　　在花費數萬億美元救助了一批大銀行之后，美聯儲和政府官員現在已經很明確地宣布，各州不會再享受到相同的待遇。事實上，華爾街拿了納稅人的錢給自己發巨額紅利，現在又打算從全國普遍受損失的各州那里撈錢。就像林恩·派拉蒙所描述的那樣：說到大發災難財，食品券生意就像戰爭生意一樣獲利豐厚，經濟寄生蟲們又從中大賺了一筆。“2010年，負責發行食品券借記卡的JP摩根的業務部門，獲得了54.7億美元的純收入。該部門的負責人克里斯托弗·派頓說，‘就其規模和范圍來說，這項業務對于JP摩根而言舉足輕重。’據美國證券交易委員會(SEC)保存的該公司最新季報，在其中的‘國債及證券服務’部分中，涉及到該部門的食品券業務，2010年第四季度擴大了2%，并在2010年貢獻了54.7億美元的凈收入。”

　　就在美國排名前千分之一的大富豪們變得比以往更加富有之時，中產階級正在迅速消失，貧困狀況正在惡化。當政界人士忽視了受損的大多數人的需要，只顧迎合凌駕于法律之上的金融寡頭，那么騷亂的風起云涌只不過是一個時間的問題罷了。對照已發生抗議活動的國家，來分析美國國內的社會和經濟征兆，我們會發現，現在不再是人民“會不會”奮起反抗的問題，而是“什么時候”起來行動的問題。

　　美國與其他發生騷亂的國家相比，有兩點顯著的不同：一是美國的媒體宣傳系統更加強大、復雜、無所不在，這將使得公眾處于受壓制當中，感到孤立而無所適從。二是美國通過發放食品券、失業救濟金或其他維持基本生存的官方援助形式，使5200萬人暫時得到了反貧困計劃的庇護。然而這兩處差異都只是臨時性的，決不會持續下去。社會安全網正被打破，對一些關鍵性社會服務的削減即將付諸實施，可是需要這些服務的人數反而在以數百萬的量級上升。同時，隨著食品和油氣價格上漲，食品券和其他形式的政府有限救助越來越顯得杯水車薪。

　　醫療費用也在加速攀升。美國的醫療體系已經是世界上費用最高昂的體系;就個人角度看，我的健康醫療保險供應商已經發來通知，說我們家必須再多支付45%的保費才行。我們一家三口要想獲得一份基本的健康醫療保險，平均每個月要支付超過1100美元費用。美國還有5900萬人根本就沒有醫療保險。醫療體系已經成為醞釀著憤怒情緒的孵化器。

　　把所有這些因素加在一起，你就會得到一個革命的結局。主流媒體炮制的新聞和“現實”電視節目迷幻劑只能暫時把人們蒙在鼓里。當人們吃不起喝不起的時候，宣傳系統自然就會垮臺。在這場盛事中，美國人也許是遲到者，但一旦某個城市開了頭，多米諾骨牌就會接連倒下，一股抗議的浪潮將像海嘯一樣橫掃全國。

　　唯一的問題只在于：這什么時候會發生?將以什么形式開始?

　　7.“饑餓的人們不會甘心繼續挨餓”

　　食品價格是一個預示著抗議動向的領先指標。美聯儲的措施推動食品價格進一步上漲，政府又在大刀闊斧地削減援助計劃，因此，那些在每個月的最后一天到沃爾瑪商場門口排長隊，等待著午夜鐘聲一過便能用食品券借記卡購買牛奶和面包的人們，似乎將最有可能率先揭竿而起。

　　我們可以通過分析最新的食品券數據，來看看美國不可避免的革命行動將如何開場。

　　美國總共有4360萬人依靠著領取食品券維持生活。從人數來看，在美國的13個州，這樣的老百姓都已分別超過100萬人。例如，得克薩斯州392.5萬人，占全州總人口的15.6%;加利福尼亞州352.2萬人，占全州總人口的9.5%;佛羅里達州299.4萬人，占全州總人口的15.9%，等等。

　　從比例來看，在11個州，依靠領取食品券勉強度日的人口已占該州總人口的18%以上，例如，密西西比州是20.7%，田納西州是19.9%，俄勒岡州是19.6%，密歇根州和新墨西哥州都達到了19.4%。在首都所在的哥倫比亞特區，這類人有13.16萬，占總人口比例高達21.9%。

　　如前所述，一些城市的貧困化率超過了25%，像底特律 36%,克利夫蘭35%, 布法羅 29%,密爾沃基28%, 圣路易斯27%, 邁阿密 27%,孟菲斯26%, 辛辛那提26% ，費城25%，也都是抗議活動的高危易發區。

　　8.發生在帝國當中的抗議活動

　　紐約大約有290萬人依賴于食品券維持生活，相當于曼哈頓的全部人口。可以想像一下，有300萬人如洪流一般涌入曼哈頓的情景。再想像一下，這 300萬人決定乘搭15到30分鐘的地鐵，進入金融區，從華爾街到紐約聯儲沿途露營，擁擠的人群又擠向JP摩根、高盛、花旗集團、富國銀行、摩根斯坦利、美國銀行。也許來自新澤西和康涅狄格兩個州的那100萬人也會聞訊趕來，于是將有400萬人把曼哈頓這個世界經濟之都圍個水泄不通。

　　到那時，全球的媒體將用什么樣的語言來描述?

　　聚集于開羅的100萬人已將振蕩波傳至全世界，但唯有數百萬美國人展開街頭洪流之際，革命的感染力將會像五級颶風一樣刮遍全世界。如同法國人古斯塔夫·勒龐在《人群：大眾心理研究》一書中所說的：“這文明看上去燦爛奪目，因為它擁有一個光鮮的表面，這是過去長期積累而成的，但事實上大廈將傾，并注定在第一場風暴中就會倒下。”

　　9.麥迪遜的戰斗：山雨欲來的信號

　　就在繼續打擊美國的小企業和私營部門工人的同時，國際金融精英們又在進一步向公共部門的工人進攻了。在這方面，威斯康星州政府打擊州教師工會的舉動，對于彌補共和黨與民主黨之間的固有分歧、平息以往的爭論毫無作用。這事關人民向經濟壓迫者發起還擊。在埃及，穆巴拉克曾是新自由主義貴族統治的當地堡壘。在威斯康星，斯各特·沃克也是新自由主義貴族統治的當地堡壘。這場發生在威斯康星州麥迪遜的在美國人民和國際金融精英間展開的戰斗，打響了第一槍，代表了美國抵抗運動的覺醒，是未來形勢發展的一個信號。

　　如同《華盛頓郵報》的一篇報道總結的那樣，工人們在埃及推翻了獨裁者，但卻可能在威斯康星被迫保持緘默。“在埃及，工人們擁有了一個革命的二月。與之相反，在美國，這個二月卻成為工人們數十年來所經歷的最殘酷的一個月。就在工人們推動埃及體制的倒臺之際，美國的一個州政府卻在大力摧毀工人的組織。威斯康星州共和黨籍的新任州長斯各特·沃克，提出要剝奪公共部門雇傭者的大部分集體協商權利。根據他的法案，代表教師、清潔工、公立醫院的醫生和護士以及其他公職人員利益的各個工會，將喪失其涉及醫療保障、年金和其他福利的協商權利。為了追求政治上的穩妥，州長對消防員和警察隊伍網開一面。 有一些人，總是宣揚別國工人在反對和削弱當地統治體制方面多么英勇，然而，一旦工人們要在自家院子里申張權利，威脅到自己國內的統治，就絕不允許了。既然威斯康星的州長已經對衛隊發出了行軍命令，我們可以想見，從中東地區到西方心臟地帶，一場新形態的全球反壓迫大團結將會復興。”

　　[英文原文]

　　Analysis of the Global Insurrection Against Neo-Liberal Economic Domination and the Coming American Rebellion

　　David DeGraw

　　In previous Revolution Roundups, before we were knocked offline, we featured mass protests by the people of Ireland, Italy, Britain, Austria, Greece, France and Portugal, as the Global Insurrection contagion spread throughout Europe. And now, as we have seen over the past month, North African and Middle Eastern nations have joined the movement as the people of Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Morocco, Gabon, Mauritania, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, Palestine, Iraq, Sudan and Algeria have taken to the streets en masse.

　　The connection between this latest round of uprisings and the prior protests throughout Europe is one the mainstream media is not making. We are witnessing a decentralized global rebellion against Neo-Liberal economic imperialism. While each national uprising has its own internal characteristics, each one, at its core, is about the rising costs of living and lack of financial opportunity and security. Throughout the world the situation is the same: increasing levels of unemployment and poverty, as price inflation on food and basic necessities is soaring.

　　Whether national populations realize it or not, these uprisings are against systemic global economic policies that are strategically designed to exploit the working class, reduce living standards, increase personal debt and create severe inequalities of wealth. These global uprising, which have only just begun, are the first wave of the inevitable reaction to the implementation of a centralized worldwide Neo-Feudal economic order.

　　The global banking cartel, centered at the IMF, World Bank and Federal Reserve, have paid off politicians and dictators the world over — from Washington to Greece to Egypt. In country after country, they have looted national economies at the expense of local populations, consolidating wealth in unprecedented fashion – the top economic one-tenth of one percent is currently holding over $40 trillion in investible wealth, not counting an equally significant amount of wealth hidden in offshore accounts.

　　IMF imperial operations designed to extract wealth and suppress populations have been ongoing for decades. As anyone researching economic imperialism will know, a centrally planned Neo-Liberal aristocracy controls the global economy.

　　I: Centrally Planned Economic Repression

　　The IMF has a well-worn strategy that they use to conquer national economies. As I warned four months ago, we have now progressed into Step 3.5: World Wide IMF Riots. Back in October, in a TV interview with Max Keiser, we discussed leaked World Bank documents that revealed the IMF’s strategy. I stated the following:

　　“They have a four-step strategy for destroying national economies…. We are about to enter what they would call Step Three. Step Three is when you’ve looted the economy and now food and basic necessities all of a sudden become more expensive, harder to get to. And then, Step 3.5 is when you get the riots. We are fastly approaching that….

　　We are headed to, as the IMF said, and as they plan, Step 3.5: IMF Riots. That’s what’s coming…”

　　Fast-forward four months to today, and now we see country after country rebelling against high food prices. Since our October interview, food prices have spiked 15%. According to new World Bank data, since June 2010, “Rising food have pushed about 44 million people into poverty in developing countries.”

　　As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced another round of Quantitative Easing (QE2), those of us paying attention knew that the trigger had been pulled and Step Three had been executed. It was a declaration of economic war, an economic death sentence for tens of millions of people – deliberately devaluing the dollar and sparking inflation in commodities/basic necessities. It was a vicious policy that would impact people from Boston to Cairo.

　　When QE2 was announced, I warned: “Food and Gas Prices Will Skyrocket, The Federal Reserve Just Dropped An Economic Nuclear Bomb On Us.” I also wrote: “The Federal Reserve is deliberately devaluing the dollar to enrich a small group of a global bankers, which will cause significant harm to the people of the United States and severe ramifications throughout the world…. The Federal Reserve’s actions are already causing the price of food and gas to increase and will cause hyperinflation on most basic necessities.”

　　To be clear, there are several significant factors contributing to rising food prices, such as extreme weather conditions, biofuel production and Wall Street speculation; but the Federal Reserve’s policies deliberately threw gasoline all over those brush fires. QE2 was another economic napalm bomb from the global banking cartel.

　　In a recent McClathy news article entitled, “Egypt’s unrest may have roots in food prices, US Fed policy,” Kevin Hall reports:

　　“‘The truth of the matter is that when the Federal Reserve moved on the quantitative easing, it did export inflation to a lot of these emerging markets…. There’s no doubt that one of the side effects of the weak dollar and quantitative easing has been rising commodity prices. It helped create this bullish environment for commodities. This is a very delicate balancing act.’

　　It’s a view shared by Ed Yardeni, a veteran financial market analyst, who reached a similar conclusion in a research note to investors…. He joked that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke should be added to a list of revolutionaries, since his quantitative easing policy, unveiled last year in Wyoming, has provoked unrest and change in the developing world.

　　‘Since he first indicated his support for such a revolutionary monetary change… the prices of corn, soybeans and wheat have risen 53 percent, 37 percent and 24.4 percent through Friday’s close,’ Yardeni noted. ‘The price of crude oil rose 19.8 percent over this period from $75.17 to $90.09 this (Monday) morning. Soaring food and fuel prices are compounding anger attributable to widespread unemployment in the countries currently experiencing riots.’”

　　The people throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa, on the fringe of the Neo-Liberal economic empire and most vulnerable to the Fed’s inflationary policies, are the first to rebel.

　　Before analyzing the situation within the US, let’s take a closer look at the global Neo-Liberal economic policies that led to the Egyptian and Tunisian revolts.

　　II :: Economic Imperialism: IMF Plunder of Egypt and Tunisia

　　In the Middle East and North Africa populations are rising against their local dictators. However, these “dictators” take orders from the IMF.

　　A report from the Center for Research on Globalization revealed some background and historical context:

　　“The Alliance between Global Capitalism and Arab Dictators

　　It is paramount to understand that the Arab dictators and tyrants serve the interests of organized capital. This is their primary function. They are elements of the global system formed by organized capital.

　　Looking back, protests and riots started in 1977 against the regime of Mohammed Anwar Al-Sadat, Mubarak’s predecessor. The causes of these protests were the neo-liberal policies that the I.M.F. had handed down to Sadat. The I.M.F. policies ended government subsidies on basic daily commodities of life. Food prices jumped and Egyptians became hard-hit….

　　The Arab people grasp the fact that their ruling class and governments are not only corrupt regimes, but also comprador elites, namely the local representatives of foreign corporations, governments, and interests…. In Egypt, Gamal Mubarak (who was being groomed by his father for the presidency) worked for Bank of America.

　　In Tunisia, Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali was a military officer trained in French and American military schools who, once in power, served U.S. and French economic interests. In Lebanon, Fouad Siniora was a former Citibank official before he became prime minister…. Within the corrupt Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad worked for one of the banks forming the U.S. Federal Reserve and the World Bank….

　　Moreover, almost all Arab finance ministers are affiliated to the major global banking institutions. All of them also strictly adhere to the Washington Consensus of the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.) and the World Bank…”

　　Samer Shehata, professor of Arab politics at Georgetown University, summed up the situation in Egypt and Tunisia:

　　“Beginning in 2004… Egypt began implementing economic reforms called for by the IMF—or really forced on them by the IMF and the World Bank… a new government was appointed, new ministers were appointed, who believed wholeheartedly in the ideas of the IMF and the World Bank. And they quite vigorously pursued these policies. And there was at one level, at the level of macroeconomic indicators, statistics, GDP growth rates, foreign direct investment and so on—Egypt seemed to be a miracle. And this, of course, was the case with the Tunisian model earlier. You’ll remember that Jacques Chirac called it the ‘economic miracle,’ and it was the darling of the IMF and the World Bank, because it implemented these types of reforms earlier. Well, of course, we saw what happened in Tunisia. In Egypt, from 2004 until the present, the government and its reforms were applauded in Washington by World Bank, IMF and US officials…. Egypt received the top reformer award from the IMF and the World Bank…”

　　Former Goldman Sachs executive Nomi Prins reveals more details:

　　The Egyptian Uprising Is a Direct Response to Ruthless Global Capitalism

　　“The revolution in Egypt is as much a rebellion against the painful deterioration of economic conditions as it is about opposing a dictator…. When people are facing a dim future, in a country hijacked by a corrupt regime that destabilized its economy through what the CIA termed, ‘aggressively pursuing economic reforms to attract foreign investment’ (in other words, the privatization and sale of its country’s financial system to international sharks), waiting doesn’t cut it….

　　Tunisia’s dismal economic environment was a direct result of its increasingly ‘liberal’ policy toward foreign speculators. Of the five countries covered by the World Bank’s, Investment Across Sectors Indicator, Tunisia had the fewest limits on foreign investment…. Egypt adopted a similar come-and-get-it policy, on steroids…. But, as we learned in the U.S., what goes up with artificial helium plummets under real gravity…. Not surprisingly, those foreign speculation strategies didn’t bring less poverty or more jobs either. Indeed, the insatiable hunt for great deals, whether by banks, hedge funds, or private equity funds, as it inevitably does, had the opposite effect….

　　Ironically, the [Egyptian Ministry of Investment] brochure touted the large college graduate population entering the job market each year — 325,000. The same graduates are the core of the current revolution. They failed to find adequate jobs and are faced with an official unemployment rate of just below 10 percent (though, similar to the U.S., that figure doesn’t account for underemployment, poor job quality or long-term prospects)…. Meanwhile, 20 percent of Egypt lives in poverty… For in the United States, economic statistics are no better. By certain measures, like income inequality, they are worse than in Egypt.”

　　III :: US-Egypt Economic Parallels, Inequality & Poverty

　　Comparable economic statistics between the US and Egypt are facts that US mainstream media propagandists are not reporting.

　　Inequality of Wealth

　　Income inequality has reached a record level within Egypt, as Pat Garofalo explained:

　　“One of the driving factors behind the protests is the… growing sense of inequality. ‘They’re all protesting about growing inequalities…. The top of the pyramid was getting richer and richer,’ said Emile Hokayem of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in the Middle East.

　　As Yasser El-Shimy, former diplomatic attaché at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote in Foreign Policy, ‘income inequality has reached levels not before seen in Egypt’s modern history.’”

　　As the US mainstream media references the “oppressive” and “corrupt” inequality of wealth throughout Egypt, the hypocrisy is shameful. The inequality of wealth in the United States is currently the most severe it has ever been. Gini coefficient ratings are a measure of a nation’s inequality – the higher a nation scores, the more unequal the society is. The US has a Gini coefficient rating of 45, compared to Egypt’s 34.4, Yemen’s 37 and Tunisia’s 40, making the US the most unequal, “oppressive” and “corrupt” of the four.

　　As John Dewey once said, “There is no such thing as the liberty or effective power of an individual, group, or class, except in relation to the liberties, the effective powers, of other individuals, groups or classes.”

　　Poverty

　　When well-paid “experts” in expensive suits sitting behind desks in state of the art studios discuss the hardships of the Egyptian people, something tells me that these pundits haven’t spent much time interacting with tens of millions of people living in inner city America – just because the mainstream media doesn’t cover them, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. They exist in larger numbers in the US than they do in most rebelling countries.

　　The rising price of food has played a pivotal role in sparking the uprisings, food prices have a larger impact in countries like Egypt and Tunisia, as they represent a more significant percentage of total income. However, the overall costs of living in the US are significantly higher. When these costs are factored in — medical expenses, housing, transportation, education, etc. – the US poverty level of $22k per year, for a family of four, is comparable to the poverty rate measure in Egypt.

　　According to the CIA, the poverty rate in Egypt is 20%. With a population size of 83 million people, this would put 16.6 million Egyptians living in poverty. In the US, the current poverty rate is 16.8%, with a population of 309 million, this puts 52 million Americans living below the poverty line.

　　When you consider that the US has 52 million people currently living in poverty, you realize, as shocking as it may sound, that we have a larger number of desperate people in the US than rebelling populations in countries throughout the Middle East and Europe. Overall, in comparison to Egypt, the US population is obviously more geographically spread out, but if you breakdown the demographics, many large US cities have a poverty rate higher than the 20 percent rate in Egypt.

　　Consider that, according to low-ball government statistics, nine major US cities have a poverty rate over 25%.

　　IV :: Debt Slavery: Unemployed, Underemployed, Underpaid, In Debt

　　The unemployment rate in Egypt mirrors the unemployment rate in the US, currently fluctuating between nine and ten percent, according to government sources. The unemployment rate among recent graduates attempting to enter the workforce also mirrors the crisis in the US. The young unemployed and underemployed demographic has played a pivotal role in leading the rebellion. Reporting for the Financial Times in an article entitled, “At hand, an Arab awakening,” Roula Khalaf sums it up this way:

　　“In Egypt, as in Tunisia, the young people who initiated the street campaigns were educated, internet-savvy activists with no political affiliation. [Sound familiar?] After watching the fervour unleashed in the past month, young Syrians, Bahrainis, Algerians and even the quiescent Libyans are turning to Facebook and Twitter to call for their own ‘day of rage’.

　　As Mr Khashoggi puts it: ‘The 25-year-old unemployed today has become the strong man.’”

　　A report from Business Week entitled, “The Youth Unemployment Bomb,” provides more detail:

　　“In Tunisia, the young people who helped bring down a dictator are called hittistes—French-Arabic slang for those who lean against the wall. Their counterparts in Egypt… are the shabab atileen, unemployed youths… In Britain, they are NEETs – ‘not in education, employment, or training.’ In Japan, they are freeters: an amalgam of the English word freelance and the German word Arbeiter, or worker. Spaniards call them mileuristas, meaning they earn no more than 1,000 euros a month. In the U.S., they’re ‘boomerang’ kids who move back home after college because they can’t find work. Even fast-growing China… has its ‘ant tribe’ – recent college graduates who crowd together in cheap flats on the fringes of big cities because they can’t find well-paying work.

　　In each of these nations, an economy that can’t generate enough jobs to absorb its young people has created a lost generation of the disaffected, unemployed, or underemployed—including growing numbers of recent college graduates for whom the post-crash economy has little to offer….

　　More common is the quiet desperation of a generation in ‘waithood,’ suspended short of fully employed adulthood. At 26, Sandy Brown of Brooklyn, N.Y., is a college graduate and a mother of two who hasn’t worked in seven months. ‘I used to be a manager at a Duane Reade in Manhattan, but they laid me off. I’ve looked for work everywhere and I can’t find anything,’ she says. ‘It’s like I got my diploma for nothing.’”

　　The collapsing job market, declining wages, loss of benefits and skyrocketing cost of education has created a “lost generation” of young college graduates with little options and massive debt. When millions of American students took out tens of thousands of dollars in student loans to pay for an education which they assumed would give them the skills needed to make a good living, they never imagined that they would be either unemployed, working part-time, or making significantly less than people in their chosen profession have traditionally made. The majority of young workers in their twenties and early thirties have debt that they will spend most of their life trying to pay back. They’ve been sentenced to a life of…

　　Debt Slavery

　　Mike Whitney recently interviewed Alan Nasser on CounterPunch for a piece entitled, “The Student Loan Swindle.” Here’s an excerpt:

　　“MW: Is it possible to ‘walk away’ from a student loan and declare bankruptcy?

　　Alan Nasser: No, it’s not possible for student debtors to escape financial devastation by declaring bankruptcy. This most fundamental of consumer protections would have been available to student debtors were it not for legislation explicitly designed to withhold a whole range of basic protections from student borrowers. I’m not talking only about bankruptcy protection, but also truth in lending requirements, statutes of limitations, refinancing rights and even state usury laws – Congress has rendered all these protections inapplicable to federally guaranteed student loans. The same legislation also gave collection agencies hitherto unimaginable powers, for example to garnish wages, tax returns, Social Security benefits and – believe it or not – Disability income.

　　Twisting the knife, legislators made the suspension of state-issued professional licenses, termination of public employment and denial of security clearances legitimate measures to enable collection companies to wring financial blood from bankrupt student-loan borrowers. Student loan debt is the most punishable of all forms of debt – most of those draconian measures are unavailable to credit card companies….

　　MW: Is it fair to say that the student loan industry is a scam that targets borrowers who will never be able to repay their debts? Are these students like the people who were seduced into taking out subprime loans? How much money is involved and how much of that money is either presently in default or headed for default?

　　Alan Nasser: It’s as fair as fair can be. First, the student loan industry is huge – a large majority of students from every type of school are in debt. Debt is held by 62 percent of students enrolled at public colleges and universities, 72 percent at private non-profit schools and 96 percent at private, for-profit (‘proprietary’) schools. It was announced last summer that total student loan debt, at $830 billion, now exceeds total US credit card debt, which is itself bloated to the bubble level of $827 billion. And student loan debt is growing at the rate of $90 billion a year.”

　　These students weren’t expecting an economic crisis to occur, and, unlike the banks that lent them the money, they’re not getting a bailout. Also factor in that the overwhelming majority of new jobs, the few that are being added, are either part-time, temporary or in low paying fields without health or retirement benefits. Mix all of this together, and you have a vicious cycle with devastating consequences.

　　Given the size of this segment of the population, carrying this much debt, at such a young age, with limited prospects, you can feel the winds of revolution blowing.

　　Contrary to all the propaganda you hear from the mainstream media and politicians, the economy is still shedding jobs at a staggering pace. ZeroHedge recently featured a report entitled, “Just How Ugly Is The Truth Of America’s Unemployment” by economist David Rosenberg:

　　“It is laughable that everyone believes the labor market in the U.S.A. is improving.… The data from the Household survey are truly insane. The labor force has plunged an epic 764k in the past two months. The level of unemployment has collapsed 1.2 million, which has never happened before. People not counted in the labor force soared 753k in the past two months.

　　These numbers are simply off the charts and likely reflect the throngs of unemployed people starting to lose their extended benefits and no longer continuing their job search (for the two-thirds of them not finding a new job). These folks either go on welfare or they rely on their spouse or other family members or friends for support….

　　Of all the analysis we saw over the weekend, the only one that made any sense was the editorial by Bob Herbert:

　　‘The policy makers don’t tell us that most of the new jobs being created in such meager numbers are, in fact, poor ones, with lousy pay and few or no benefits. What we hear is what the data zealots pump out week after week, that the market is up, retail sales are strong, Wall Street salaries and bonuses are streaking, as always, to the moon, and that businesses are sitting on mountains of cash. So all must be right with the world.

　　Jobs? Well, the less said the better.

　　What’s really happening, of course, is the same thing that’s been happening in this country for the longest time — the folks at the top are doing fabulously well and they are not interested in the least in spreading the wealth around.

　　The people running the country — the ones with the real clout, whether Democrats or Republicans — are all part of this power elite. Ordinary people may be struggling, but both the Obama administration and the Republican Party leadership are down on their knees, slavishly kissing the rings of the financial and corporate kingpins.’

　　… the civilian population rose 1.872 million last year. At the same time, the labor force fell 167k. Those not in the labor force soared 2.094 million. Just in January, we saw 319,000 people drop out of the work force. These numbers are incredible. This is a highly dysfunctional labor market. People are falling through the cracks at an alarming rate as they come off their extended jobless benefits….”

　　In the US, we have over six million people who have now been unemployed for over six months, the highest total we have ever had. Factoring long-term unemployed and part-time workers looking for full-time work in to the total unemployment count, we now have over 30 million Americans in need of employment.

　　V :: The American Dream Foreclosed Upon

　　The foreclosure crisis in the United States, which has already affected over seven million people since the crisis began, is not slowing down, it’s accelerating. Economist Joseph Stiglitz recently predicated another two million foreclosures in 2011. David Walsh sums up the growing crisis:

　　Nearly 30 percent of US homeowners now ‘underwater’

　　“Year over year, home values were down 5.9 percent nationally, and have fallen 27 percent since their peak in June 2006. The total value of US single-family homes fell a staggering $798 billion in 2010’s fourth quarter, and for the entire year, more than $2 trillion….

　　The number of US homeowners ‘underwater,’ i.e., owing more than their homes were worth, at the end of 2010, jumped to 27 percent, up from 23.2 percent in the third quarter…. ‘The rate of homes selling for a loss reached a new peak in December, with more than one-third (34.1 percent) selling for a loss. The rate of homes sold for a loss has increased steadily for the past six months.’ Some 15.7 million homeowners had negative equity at the end of the fourth quarter, in households home to more than 40 million people.

　　The massive number of those underwater will ‘surely lead to higher foreclosure rates soon,’ notes CNNMoney…. Economist Joseph Stiglitz, speaking at a conference in Mauritius February 9, predicted that another 2 million foreclosures would take place in the US in 2011, adding to the 7 million already recorded since the financial meltdown of 2008.

　　Banks repossessed 1 million homes in 2010, and this year is expected to be bleaker. Approximately 5 million borrowers are at least two months behind in their mortgage payments.”

　　VI :: A Recipe For Revolution: Tax Breaks for the Rich, Budget Cuts for the Poor

　　Let’s recap the statistics: we have 59 million people without healthcare, 52 million in poverty, 44 million on food stamps, 30 million in need of work, seven million foreclosed upon and five million homes over two months late in their mortgage payments. Meanwhile, all new political policies and proposals on the table, on the state and federal level, are committed to major cuts in social services. In a sign of what’s to come, Obama’s first disclosed spending cut targets the poor. As Salon recently reported:

　　New Obama strategy: Beat up poor people

　　“To prove it is ‘serious’ about the deficit, the White House proposes cutting a program that helps pay heating bills. The Obama administration… will propose big cuts to a program that provides energy assistance to poor people when it unveils its suggested 2012 budget. ‘The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP… would see funding drop by about $2.5 billion from an authorized 2009 total of $5.1 billion.’

　　The news is generating a lot of outrage… in large part because of a paragraph that suggests that the White House wants to gain political advantage from being seen as tough on the most vulnerable Americans — people who can’t afford heating oil during cold winters…. If the White House wants to convince Americans that it is serious about budget discipline, it should do so by ‘going after powerful vested interests rather than those least able to defend themselves within the political arena.’ The White House could redouble its efforts to cut oil company subsidies or repeal tax cuts for the rich, for example.”

　　As The Independent reported, “Obama to set out painful budget plans for austerity in America. Americans are about to get a first glimpse of what tight-fisted federal government looks like with President Barack Obama releasing an austerity-tinged draft budget.”

　　In a report we featured on the AmpedStatus Hot List with the headline, “US Democracy Crushed By Economic Elite,” Bob Herbert sums it up:

　　“One state after another is reporting that it cannot pay its bills. Public employees across the country are walking the plank by the tens of thousands. Camden, N.J., a stricken city with a serious crime problem, laid off nearly half of its police force. Medicaid, the program that provides health benefits to the poor, is under savage assault from nearly all quarters.

　　The poor, who are suffering from an all-out depression, are never heard from. In terms of their clout, they might as well not exist. The Obama forces reportedly want to raise a billion dollars or more for the president’s re-election bid. Politicians in search of that kind of cash won’t be talking much about the wants and needs of the poor. They’ll be genuflecting before the very rich.”

　　Austerity measures and draconian cuts to the social safety net are occurring just after passing hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to multi-millionaires and billionaires. On the state level, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a report revealing, “Thirty-one states have released their initial budget proposals for fiscal year 2012 (which begins July 1 in most states), and, for the fourth year in a row, these budgets propose deep cuts in education, health care, and other important public services…”

　　After committing trillions of dollars to bailing out the big banks, the Federal Reserve and government officials have now made it clear that the states will not receive the same treatment. In fact, the bailed out players on Wall Street, who have taken our tax dollars and given themselves all-time record-breaking bonuses, are looking to cash in on the suffering of states across the country. As Lynn Parramore recently put it:

　　Crank Up the Casino! Hedge Funds to Short American States and Cities

　　“The looming possibility of municipal defaults, which some say could total hundreds of billions of dollars, is causing grave concern. Hedge funds are also deeply concerned about America’s municipal debt crisis. They worry about how to best profit from it.The Wizards of Wall Street have looked over the catastrophe of cash-strapped America and found it good for business. In their corporate laboratories, they are working furiously to whip up wondrous new financial products that will allow them to reap millions from misery. You might think that after plunging the country into said Recession with their fancy financial products, these Wizards might feel a little indelicate about gearing up for a game of shorting a community near you. Clearly you don’t know Wall Street. The Financial Times reports that once-boring muni bonds are suddenly sexy.”

　　Speaking of reaping millions from misery, the food stamp racket pays off just as well as the war racket. The economic parasites profit off of food stamps:

　　Food Stamps: JPMorgan & Banking Industry Profit From Misery

　　“JPMorgan’s division that makes food stamp debit cards made $5.47 billion in net revenue in 2010. As the head of this division, Christopher Paton, says, ‘This business is a very important business to JPMorgan in terms of its size and scale.’ According to the company’s most recent quarterly filing with the SEC, the Treasury & Securities Services segment, which is the division that includes the food stamp business, was up 2% in the last three months of last quarter and brought in $5.47 billion in net revenue for most of 2010.”

　　Republicans and Democrats, along with their Wall Street masters, are so arrogant, deluded with wealth, completely lacking perspective, shortsighted and, quite frankly, ignorant.

　　As the economic top one-tenth of one percent has more wealth than they have ever had, the middle class is quickly disappearing and poverty is soaring. As politicians ignore the needs of the suffering masses in favor of a Kleptocratic Oligarchy, which operates above the law, it is only a matter of time before an uprising takes hold.

　　After analyzing societal and economic indicators within the US, in comparison to rebelling countries, it is not a matter of whether people will revolt or not, it’s a matter of when.

　　There are two significant differences between the United States and other rebelling nations:

　　1) The US has a much more powerful, sophisticated and omnipresent propaganda media system to keep the populace suppressed – isolated and confused.

　　2) The US keeps 52 million people temporarily pacified in anti-poverty programs by giving them food stamps, unemployment benefits or other forms of life-sustaining government assistance.

　　Both of these differences are temporary, and not in any way sustainable. The safety nets here are unraveling and cuts in vital social services will be implemented just as millions more will need them. At the same time, food stamps and other forms of limited government assistance will be worth less and less as food and gas prices continue to rise.

　　Rising commodity prices will push the 239 million Americans currently living paycheck to paycheck over the edge. Also factor in healthcare costs, which have been skyrocketing even faster. On a personal level, my health insurance provider just notified me that my family has to pay 45% more for coverage – and we already had the world’s most expensive healthcare system. For my wife, one child and myself, we will now have to pay over $1100 per month for a basic health insurance plan.

　　There are currently 59 million Americans who don’t even have healthcare insurance. The health system has become vintage Grapes of Wrath, as have most aspects of the centrally planned system of economic despotism that we live under.

　　Add all of these factors together and you have a recipe for revolution. The mainstream propaganda news outlets and “Reality” TV soma will only keep people at bay for so long. The propaganda system collapses when people can’t afford to eat. Americans may be late to the party, but once one city revolts, the dominos will fall and a wave of protest will sweep through the country like a tsunami.

　　The only questions are: when will it happen, and how it will begin?

　　VII :: “Hungry People Don’t Stay Hungry For Long”

　　Food prices have been a leading indicator for rebellion thus far. Given the Federal Reserve’s commitment to driving food prices higher, as a matter of policy, and the government’s commitment to cutting assistance programs, people lining up at Wal-Mart on the last day of the month, waiting for the clock to strike midnight so they can buy their family milk and bread on their food stamp debit card, seem to be the most likely to rebel first.

　　As food prices increase, food stamps are obviously going to buy you less food. On top of that, as food prices escalate, millions more will need food assistance, right at the point when the current safety net can least afford it.

　　Let’s analyze the most recent food stamp data to see how America’s inevitable revolution may begin.

　　With 43.6 million Americans currently relying on food stamps, there are 13 states with over a million people already on food stamps:

　　· Texas 3,925,119 (number of people on food stamps) — 15.6% (of state population)

　　· California 3,521,881 — 9.5%

　　· Florida 2,994,413 — 15.9%

　　· New York 2,934,493 — 15.1%

　　· Michigan 1,920,330 – 19.4%

　　· Ohio 1,772,608 — 15.4%

　　· Georgia 1,732,865 — 17.9%

　　· Illinois 1,732,169 — 13.5%

　　· Pennsylvania 1,673,714 — 13.2%

　　· North Carolina 1,531,255 — 16.1%

　　· Tennessee 1,264,407 — 19.9%

　　· Arizona 1,050,181 — 16.4%

　　· Washington 1,019,791 — 15.2%

　　States with over 18% of the population on food stamps:

　　· Mississippi 612,889 — 20.7%

　　· Tennessee 1,264,407 — 19.9%

　　· Oregon 749,498 — 19.6%

　　· Michigan 1,920,330 — 19.4%

　　· New Mexico 399,454 — 19.4%

　　· Louisiana 866,905 — 19.1%

　　· West Virginia 345,683 — 18.7%

　　· Kentucky 813,041 — 18.7%

　　· Maine 241,117 — 18.2%

　　· South Carolina 839,109 — 18.1%

　　· Alabama 863,606 — 18.1%

　　In our nation’s capital, the District of Columbia, there are 131,611 people on food stamps, which is a stunning 21.9% of the population.

　　As mentioned before, cities with a poverty rate over 25% – Detroit 36%, Cleveland 35%, Buffalo 29%, Milwaukee 28%, St. Louis 27%, Miami 27%, Memphis 26%, Cincinnati 26% and Philadelphia 25% – are also highly vulnerable to revolt.

　　VIII :: The Empire State Rebellion

　　Given all the data, due to New York’s geographical lay out, population size and proximity to power, it is a prime candidate for insurrection. There are currently 2.9 million people living in New York that are on food stamps, which is equivalent to the entire population of Manhattan. Just imagine three million people flooding into lower Manhattan. Imagine if three million people decided to take a 15-30 minute subway ride down to the Financial District and camped out from Wall Street to the NY Fed, spilling over to the corporate offices of JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.

　　Perhaps the one million people on food stamps from New Jersey and Connecticut will make a short trip into lower Manhattan as well, four million strong shutting down lower Manhattan, the economic capital of the world.

　　How would that play out in the global media?

　　One million people gathering in Cairo, Egypt sent shock waves throughout the world, and rightfully so, but just wait until millions of Americans begin flooding the streets. The revolution contagion will spread throughout the world like a category five hurricane.

　　“The civilization may still seem brilliant because it possesses an outward front,

　　the work of a long past, but is in reality an edifice crumbling to ruin

　　and destined to fall in at the first storm.”

　　– Gustave Le Bon, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind

　　IX :: The Battle in Madison: A Sign of Things to Come

　　While bloated federal and state spending has grown to staggering levels of debt, and demands immediate attention, any cut in spending or attempts to reduce the deficit must first come at the expense of the organized criminal class that has looted the national economy. Any cuts that happen before that need to be understood as an escalation and extension of the attacks on the American people.

　　While continuing their attacks on American small businesses and private-sector workers, the global financial elite are now stepping up their attacks on public workers. In this context, the Wisconsin state government attacks against the state teachers’ union doesn’t have anything to do with the old Democrat Vs. Republican divide and conquer debates of the past. This is about people fighting back against their economic oppressors. In Egypt, Mubarak was the Neo-Liberal Aristocracy’s local enforcer. In Wisconsin, Scott Walker is the Neo-Liberal Aristocracy’s local enforcer.

　　This battle in Madison, Wisconsin, between the American people and the global financial elite, represents the opening salvo, the awakening of an American resistance movement and a sign of what’s to come.

　　In a report entitled, “Wisconsin governor threatens to call National Guard on state workers,” Andre Damon explains the situation:

　　“Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, announced an assault against state…. Walker’s proposal, which he said would quickly pass in the state legislature, drastically limits collective bargaining, removing the right of unions to negotiate pensions, retirement and benefits….

　　When asked by a reporter what will happen if workers resist, Walker replied that he would call out the National Guard. He said that the National Guard is ‘prepared … for whatever the governor, their commander-in-chief, might call for … I am fully prepared for whatever may happen.’

　　Walker’s proposal allows state authorities to arbitrarily fire workers who ‘participate in an organized action to stop or slow work,’ or who ‘are absent for three days without approval of the employer,’ according to the governor’s press release.”

　　Democracy Now pointed out:

　　“… the governor’s actions could have national ramifications: ‘If Governor Walker pulls this off… if he takes down one of the strongest and most effective teachers’ unions, WEAC, in the country, then we really are going to see this sweep across the United States.’”

　　As a recent Washington Post report summed it up:

　　Workers toppled a dictator in Egypt, but might be silenced in Wisconsin

　　“In Egypt, workers are having a revolutionary February. In the United States, by contrast, February is shaping up as the cruelest month workers have known in decades.

　　The coup de grace that toppled Hosni Mubarak came after tens of thousands of Egyptian workers went on strike beginning last Tuesday. By Friday, when Egypt’s military leaders apparently decided that unrest had reached the point where Mubarak had to go, the Egyptians who operate the Suez Canal and their fellow workers in steel, textile and bottling factories; in hospitals, museums and schools; and those who drive buses and trains had left their jobs to protest their conditions of employment and governance. As Jim Hoagland noted in The Post, Egypt was barreling down the path that Poland, East Germany and the Philippines had taken, the path where workers join student protesters in the streets and jointly sweep away an authoritarian regime.

　　But even as workers were helping topple the regime in Cairo, one state government in particular was moving to topple workers’ organizations here in the United States…. Scott Walker, Wisconsin’s new Republican governor, proposed taking away most collective bargaining rights of public employees. Under his legislation… the unions representing teachers, sanitation workers, doctors and nurses at public hospitals, and a host of other public employees, would lose the right to bargain over health coverage, pensions and other benefits. (To make his proposal more politically palatable, the governor exempted from his hit list the unions representing firefighters and police.)….

　　[Those who] often profess admiration for foreign workers’ bravery in protesting and undermining authoritarian regimes. Letting workers exercise their rights at home, however, threatens to undermine some of our own regimes, and shouldn’t be permitted. Now that Wisconsin’s governor has given the Guard its marching orders, we can discern a new pattern of global repressive solidarity emerging – from the chastened pharaoh of the Middle East to the cheesehead pharaoh of the Middle West.”

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