Who are the 1%

As you know, the Occupy Wallstreet protests continue to spread.
One of the catchphrases you're already sick of is, "We are the 99%"
But who are the 1%?

Click here to read an article from the New York Post explaining that the "top one percent" are determined by average household incomes.
Which is missing the point. No one is protesting wages.
The 1% is not actually a numerical figure. It is not determinable by who cashes what cheque.

Here is an article that goes into much more detail about the real 1%, described by Citibank analysts as a plutocracy. Click here

So the 1% are the people who run the groups that have the greatest profits. For instance, a Bank's profits, lets' say, in the neighborhood of 6 billion per quarter. (Quite realistic.) So there will be bonuses for some and a short trickle down for those who gave "the extra effort." There will be the expected growth any corporation works toward.

The 99% knows these things happen. They happen in their lives too. (That is to say, if they have jobs and work hard, they too are rewarded.)

The problem is the descrepancy between our "leftovers" and your "leftovers."

Naysayers who come back with "if you take away bonus, you'll take away incentive." Again, are missing the point. Same with those of you who would argue that income tax shouldn't apply to corporate profit. Why not? Imagine what could be done.

Well, it has been imagined before.

I can tell you one thing, the 1% aren't anywhere near wall street. 

Occupy the Planet: Class War by Proxy?

Click here to read.

Occupy Wall Street

Clicking the title above will take you to a marketwatch.com article discussing the current protests taking place in New York.

For over a week now, a large group of protesters have been trying to garner the world's attention, with very little mainstream success. However, this is changing, as tenacity and time play out.

The message of the protest is simple, "bailing out wall street was bailing out crooks, who continue to steal." Again, not an old message, but the growing success of the movement might point to either an acceptance of a required change or a boiling over.

As the marketwatch article indicates, with protesters being brutally arrested at the beginning, then being taunted by bankers, threatening to "bath the dirty hippies in champagne," things could get worse before they get better.

Now it seems US Marines in dress uniform are beginning to show up to protect the protesters. Could it be that we might actually come to see the military face off against the police? What sort of shenanigans will occur if this group grows to an unmanageable size? Will numbers provide cover for the more aggressive groups that show up at major protests?

This is a story that could easily change things for America and the world.
The media won't be able to ignore it for much longer if things continue to heat up.
Read the marketwatch article by clicking the title of this post and keep your eyes peeled.
Some people think this is history happening before our eyes.
Here is a live link to the protest.
WATCH

The War on the War on Drugs

Avaaz is sending a petition to the UN in an attempt to end the farce that is "the war on drugs."
Click the title above to open a link to sign the petition.
I have signed it and offer the following, thus spake I.

From Anti-Social Engineering the Hyper-Manipulated Self:

"I am slightly displeased with this intention "just say no" as it stands. I find the idea of merely saying no to be less than eudaemonic. If I had to give a reason for this fact, the simplest would be confusion and lack of clarity. It is, however, quite easy to point to the virtues to be found by not having drugs be one of our vices.

The golden mean, as we know, moves for each of us on a case by case basis, even from just within inside ourselves. I don't feel the same way about abstaining from marijuana as I do heroin. There must be someone who feels the same way about marijuana in relation to beer. I believe that you can use too much of any drug in much the same way you can be too adamant about legislating that no one can do any drugs. Virtue is about moderation.

If the moderation is imposed, it is not our choice. Morality cannot be legislated, despite our attempts to do so. Forced morality cannot be virtuous.

Therefore, "the war on drugs," like all hyper-manipulation, ony succeeds in producing inauthenticity.

Free ebook release

The link above will open a pdf.
It is Anti-Social Engineering the Hyper-Manipulated Self, in it's entirety, for FREE