“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” ~ Indigenous peoples proverb
Nutshell
This is a compilation in progress of material / developments related to the systemic inequity / corruption of big banks / markets / business as usual, and our insane / suicidal / growth-reliant / fossil fuel-addicted world economy that:
- compromises / betrays our political processes / collective morality
- perpetuates / thrives on oppression / injustice
- encourages / requires / rewards a culture of greed / fraud / trickery
- feeds on the devastation of our environment everywhere
- spawned and continues to accelerate the global climate emergency
- amounts to a rigged Ponzi scheme that furthers the obsene wealth / short-term profit / advantage of the few, but increases the detriment / debt / disadvantage of the many / most vulnerable, AND at the sacrifice of a livable climate for future generations(!)
- poses a clear and present threat to the survival of civilization / humanity, most life and most future life RIGHT NOW
Reality
Difficult as it is to communicate, absorb and process, let alone accept, and as shrill / alarmist as it may sound…
Our shared atmosphere is on an accelerating course to reach a state of potentially unsurvivable global climate extremes during the lives of today’s children and teens. (Compilation: +4C by 2060s or sooner catastrophic / incompatible with organized civilization.)
Clear, present impacts ALREADY displace millions / KILL hundreds of thousands each year, and compromise the lives of billions RIGHT NOW.
No less than the fate of all generations of all peoples and most species hangs in the balance TODAY. And only emergency international action at emergency (world war-time) speed FAST *may be* proportional enough to confront the scale, scope and urgency of what is ALREADY the greatest crime against humanity, most life and most future life EVER. (Compilation: Betrayal of Life.)
Watch the videos in the playlist above for an overview. Further info in the resources below.
More
Selected articles, posts
- Article – (Revised Oxfam stats since the article below) 8 men own more than 3.6 billion people do: Our economics is broken, The Guardian
- Article – Oxfam: 85 richest people as wealthy as poorest half of the world (3.5 billion!), Graeme Wearden, The Guardian
- 6 theses – Capitalism and the destruction of life on Earth, R. Smith, Truthout
- Post – None of the world’s top industries would be profitable if they paid for the natural capital they use, David Roberts, Grist
- Post – Global Ponzi scheme revisited: How climate inaction betrays our children and future generations, Joe Romm, Climate Progress
- Article – Secrets and lies of the bailout, Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone
- Article – Libor lies revealed in rigging of $300 trillion benchmark, Bloomberg
- Post – Bang goes the theory: How neoliberalism trashed your life, but made the super-rich even richer, George Monbiot, Monbiot.com
- Article – HSBC, too big to jail, is the new poster child for U.S. two-tiered justice system, Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian
- Article – Interest rate manipulation extends far beyond Libor, Gongloff, HuffPost
- Post – Banking is a criminal industry because its crimes go unpunished, HuffPost
- Article – $21 trillion hoard hidden from taxman by global elite: Private banks help wealthiest to move cash into havens, Heather Stewart, The Guardian
- Article – Wealth doesn’t trickle down — it just flows offshore, The guardian
- Article – When bankers rule the world: How we can restructure the banking system, shut down the con game, and take back America, Korten, YES! Magazine
Websites, Wikipedia, books
- Wikipedia – Libor
- Wikipedia – Eurocrisis
- Wikipedia – 2010 Flash Crash
- Wikipedia – High-frequency trading
- Website – Inside job
- Full movie – Inside Job
- Wikipedia – Inside Job
- Book – Predator Nation: Corporate criminals, political corruption, and the hijacking of America, Charles Ferguson
- Wikipedia – Charles Ferguson
- Wikipedia – William K. Black
- Book – Agenda for a new economy, 2nd edition, David Korten
- Wikipedia – David Korten
- Website – DavidKorten.org
- Wikipedia – Matt Taibbi
- Blog – Matt Taibbi, TheSmirkingChimp.com
- Blog – Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone
- Website – RobinHoodTax.org
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