Marcy

A Modest Proposal: Rename April 1 Useful Fools Day

Proposals: the outsized response to Covid-19 be a contribution to April 1; celebrations include not only ordinary individuals, but also Wall Street darlings, public servants, and respected professionals; the day be renamed Useful Fools Day.

Today is April 1, celebrated for centuries as April Fools Day. It’s a day to play pranks on the unsuspecting gullible. Given the current penchant for updating history and renaming symbols, the Just Vote No Blog proposes that April Fools Day be renamed Useful Fools Day. The new name would be more inclusive, and therefore more equitable.

Why the proposal?

Historians disagree on the origins of April Fools Day, but have some likely suggestions, all relating to events in the distant past: celebrations of the cult of Cybele, change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, start of the Vernal Equinox – all old stuff. We need to add to the list a newer event that, as the ones before, produced sufficient confusion to create a large pool of unsuspecting gullible people. Also, we need to update the title of the celebration, since these days simple fools are not anywhere near as visible and important as useful fools.

Event of the 21st Century: Covid-19 Response

The Just Vote No Blog proposes that the outsized response to the Covid-19 pandemic be the 21st Century’s contribution to April 1, and that useful fools be celebrated on that day. The Blog further proposes that celebrations include not only ordinary individuals, but also a lot of Wall Street darlings, public servants, and respected professionals.

A comprehensive list of prominent useful fools would take up several volumes, so here is just a sample of possible candidates for inclusion in the updated April Useful Fools Day.

*Our fearful brethren that support a slash and burn approach to the pandemic in an effort to receive protection and safety. The establishment has been more than happy to grow by leaps and bounds by providing such protection and safety. Problem is, as is usually the case, there is a lot of collateral damage.

Discarded surgical masks strewn along the sidewalk aptly represent COVID-19’s lasting legacy. The federal medical bureaucracy’s response to the pandemic has resulted in a wasteland of lost economic and educational opportunities, psychologically damaged children, terminally lonely nursing home residents, and lives lost to suicide, illicit drug overdoses, and missed diagnoses…

Shameless non-clinician bureaucrats have stolen our lives, stolen the smiles from children’s faces, and bullied a segment of the population into paralyzing fear. Those hiding behind masks (including our precious children) no longer see people as people, but as 170-pound nests of germs and certain death.

Dr. Marilyn Singleton, MD, JD. The New Wasteland: COVID-19’s Shameful Legacy. March 31, 2021.

* Our crony capitalists in technology that turned collaborators in the war against Covid-19. Whether collaboration will protect them against anti-trust intervention and onerous regulation remains to be seen.

A decades-old law shields companies such as Facebook and Twitter from lawsuits over content their users post on their platforms. Now that legislation is under attack as lawmakers look to hold social media firms accountable.

Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill generally agree that changes need to be made to Section 230, a provision in the Communications Decency Act that gives legal protections to social media companies.

What’s Section 230? The Social Media Law in the Crosshairs of Congress. March 26, 2021.

The government has flailed in its response to the pandemic, and Big Tech has presented itself as a beneficent friend, willing to lend a competent hand. As Microsoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, wrote in April, “The challenges we face demand an unprecedented alliance between business and government.”

What Big Tech Wants Out of the Pandemic. The Atlantic. July-August 2020 issue.

*Our leaders in Washington forge on

Back in January 2021, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order on domestic and international travel. A clause that stands out mandates that U.S. agencies study the feasibility of linking COVID-19 vaccination to International Certificates of Vaccination. On March 12, the White House issued a press briefing noting that the private sector and non-profits are taking care of these vaccine certificates with guidance from federal agencies.

We are to rejoice that at present government will not be keeping a central database on who has been vaccinated and who has not. We are also to rejoice Joe Biden is reviving our lives, our businesses and our economy.

Once again we seem to be blind to the collateral damage – the vaccine apps will be the equivalent of the ancient “Quo Vadis?” and the modern equivalent of “show me your papers.”

Old Saying: Nobody is useless; they can always serve as a horrible example

Useful fools are an extremely valuable commodity. They come in all forms – a concerned individual, a greedy corporation, a government on a tyranny dry run. Each hopes for protection, security or power that may or may not materialize. Each deserves a day of celebration dedicated to them.

Pictured Above

Interesting picture on Realm of History website’s article Ancient Romans and Medieval Church: The usual suspects in the origins of April Fools’ Day. From the article,

In any case, historically, April Fools’ Day possibly became a standardized affair by 18th century in Britain. The jests and pranks were especially popular in many parts of Scotland, with people actively participating in concocting fake errands and even inventing the ‘art’ of putting signs on the unsuspecting person’s back.

Parents of School Children are Fighting Back

Alison Collins, S.F. School Board Vice President, is the latest official caught in today’s endless uproar about race. Petition for her removal is in full swing.

The Just Vote No Blog recently discussed California’s BLM-inspired schools. Identity politics has permeated schools as it has other sectors of society. Some are fighting back. In San Francisco, a fuse that ignited a revolt was the Board of Education’s decision to change the merit-based admission policy of Lowell High School to a lottery-based system. This decision will bring Lowell down to the mediocre level of other San Francisco government/union-run schools.

One school official caught in the maelstrom is Alison Collins, Vice President of the San Francisco Board of Education. Her unfortunate Tweets insinuating that Asians behave like white supremacists to get ahead placed Ms. Collins in a difficult position. She offended both the race-focused progressives and the traditional-education-focused parents of Lowell High students. Mission Local in an article dated March 23, explains the situation well.

A petition calling for Ms. Collins ejection from the School Board has been posted on Change.org.

Perhaps petitions and other means of raising awareness need to be posted regarding the broader issue: school officials that descend into race peddling.

The BLM-Inspired Schools of California

Thank you to Steve Frank, publisher of California Political News & Views, for publishing this article by JVN editor. Our universities have been dispensers of identity-socialism rhetoric for the past half century. The rhetoric is now tricking down to our children’s primary schools.

On one of the windows of a public Marin County middle school there was recently not a display of children’s work or announcements of school events. There was instead a poster issued by Black Lives Matter at School asking for a pledge of support for,

Restorative Justice. Transgender Affirming. Globalism. Collective Value. Queer Affirming. Unapologetically Black. Loving Engagement. Empathy. Intergenerational. Black Villages. Black Women. Black Families. Diversity.

One would have to wonder how a 12-year old might interpret this complex pledge. Parents, as well as taxpayers, might want to ask themselves how time spent discussing such concepts affect time available to learn skills like reading and math.

This Black Lives Matter at School poster falls comfortably under political propaganda. The objective of all propaganda is to convert as many hearts and minds as possible. Therefore, parents and taxpayers should know what they and their children are being recruited for.

The BLM at School website from which the poster in question can be procured makes quite clear what the group wants their recruits to support. As all attempts at winning hearts and minds, BLM at School principles contain both positive and dangerous objectives. And, as is often the case, positive messages of love and understanding do not pass muster when the more aggressive messages are explored. Here are samples from the BLM at School website.

It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains. ~Assata Shakur

We are committed to collectively, lovingly, and courageously working vigorously for freedom and justice for Black people and, by extension, all people. As we forge our path, we intentionally build and nurture a beloved community that is bonded together through a beautiful struggle that is restorative, not depleting.

We are committed to fostering a queer‐affirming network. When we gather, we do so with the intention of freeing ourselves from the tight grip of heteronormative thinking or, rather, the belief that all in the world are heterosexual unless s/he or they disclose otherwise.

We are committed to disrupting the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement by supporting each other as extended families and “villages” that collectively care for one another, and especially “our” children to the degree that mothers, parents and children are comfortable.

The first objective quoted above might need clarification for those not familiar with Assata Shakur. Ms. Shakur, a former member of the Black Liberation Army, is presently residing in Cuba, where she received asylum following her escape from prison in 1984. Her crime was murder of a state trooper during a 1973 shootout. Her brother, Mutulu Shakur, also a member of the BLA is still incarcerated for his role in a 1981 Brinks armored truck robbery, in which two policemen (one, by the way, Black) and one Brinks guard were murdered. In violent struggles for liberation people die, regardless of all professed love and justice.

Ms. Shakur is not the only radical honored in the BLM at School website. Another name that should stand out, especially to residents of San Francisco, is BLM at School endorser Bill Ayers, a leader of the Weather Underground and foster parent of San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin. However, his role in several bombings in protest of the Vietnam War during the late 1960s and 1970s is not what is significant here.

Bill Ayers, along with other prominent radicals like Bernardine Dohrn (Weather Underground leader and retired Northwestern University law professor) and Kathy Boudin (Weather Underground leader and Columbia University co-founder of the Center for Justice), pivoted from violence to education (or indoctrination). After his Weather Underground days, Ayers became known for his work in education theory, education reform, curriculum and instruction.

Things roll downhill, and the race/gender-focused socialism that radicals brought into universities is now sipping into primary schools.

The Marin County middle school poster could have been the idea of one teacher or one parent for all we know. The concern here is not with that particular school, but with a wider trend of mainstreaming radicalism in children’s schools. The California Department of Education website has a section describing California’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum and containing the following in the lesson plan.

… develop an understanding and analyze the effectiveness of #BlackLivesMatter and the broader Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), specifically delving into the movement’s structure, key organizations, and tactics/actions used to respond to incidents of police brutality…

The ultimate questions for parents and taxpayers need to be: Is reform of schools, criminal justice, and some cultural conventions desirable at this time? What is the track record of the race/gender-focused education that has gained ground during the past three decades? Are parents and taxpayers these days willing to speak up if their answer to the first question is “Yes” and to the second question is “Lousy?”

This article was written for California Political News & Views, March 23, 2021

Freedom Trash Can to Mask Burning

Citizens of Idaho gathered in front of their capitol to burn their masks. For folks that were around in the 1960s, the Idaho event might bring back memories of Freedom Trash Cans and draft-card burning.

Citizens of Idaho took a page from the 1960s. Back in the ‘60s the boiling cauldron of Vietnam-war protests, civil rights protests, and women’s liberation prompted action in town squares throughout America. Young men burned their draft cards, and young women tossed their bras into the Freedom Can.

On March 6, 2021, about 100 Idaho citizens gathered in front of Idaho’s state capitol to burn Covid face masks.

Darr Moon, an organizer of the mask-burning event, stated the reason for the protest.

I think people need to realize that we’re standing here today to rein back government, to reestablish our republican form of government, government that has balance between the branches. The Guardian, March 6, 2021

Today, Presidents, Governors, and Mayors play Kings and Queens by raining executive orders on the head of their constituents – stay indoors, wear masks, don’t visit Grandma, your children don’t need school. Faced with such scenarios, some folks obey but others push back.

Here are some pictures of what push-back looked like in the turbulent 60s. The women’s protest pictures are from the Smithsonian Magazine and the Vietnam War protest pictures from Les Anglonauts. Young men burned their draft cards in opposition to the Vietnam War. Women threw their bras and other symbolic items into a Freedom Trash Can to protest the “feminine oppression” that the Miss America Pageant represented. The 1960s are worth exploring, as a time when suddenly a lot of people said “NO” to the status quo.

Governor Newsom’s Recall Turns Real

Gavin Newsom is behaving like the quintessential elite–someone who creates a self-serving vision and proceed to implement it. The Recall is a reaction to Newsom’s perceived elitism as much as an attempt to put an end to his misguided policies.

What started as a Quixotic effort to remove California Governor Gavin Newsom from office, has now turned serious. The Recall Gavin Newsom campaign has gathered as of the beginning of March 2021, 1.9 million signatures. California requires 1.5 million signatures for the recall to appear on the ballot. Looks like there are almost 2 million folks that are past their tolerance point for Newsom.

What has this once popular California governor done to deserve such fate? Is he so much worse than other progressive governors? Probably not.

However, constituents have grown skeptical of Newsom’s incessant swagger about California being an economic powerhouse as homeless tents pop up everywhere, public pensions become unsustainable, and California’s middle class dwindles. Workers are tired of being thrown out of jobs, first by legislation that strangles small businesses, and presently by lockdowns. Parents of public school children are seeing their children fall behind in their education as Newsom’s children attend in-person instruction in private school.

Such disregard for the common people has marked Gavin Newsom as the quintessential establishment elite – someone who conceives a self-serving vision of what people need and proceeds to impose the vision on the populace regardless of realities. The Recall is a reaction to Newsom’s perceived elitism as much as it is an attempt to put an end to his misguided policies.

The Recall Gavin Newsom campaign claims 80,000 grassroots volunteers that can be relied upon to waive signs and collect recall signatures. Campaign organizers say they have raised almost $4 million, mostly from wealthy donors within California, but some also from Nevada ($29,250), Kansas ($26,000), Texas ($20,100), and Arizona ($6,525). Interestingly, San Francisco – solidly Democrat and committedly progressive – stands second after Irvine in Newsome Recall donations.

The litany of Newsom failures listed on the Recall document include the following:

Housing unaffordable to the middle class
Exploding homelessness
Rising crime
Failing public schools
Harassment of independent contractors
Unsustainable public pension debt
Infringement of 2nd Amendment rights
Sanctuary laws that fail to screen out criminals
High taxes
Poor water management
A dysfunctional Employment Development Departments
Extreme overreach in dealing with Covid-19
Public schools closed for nearly a year
Inability to control teachers union refusal to resume in-person teaching.

A last straw occurred when Newsom and his wife were caught dining with lobbyists at the posh French Laundry eatery after he recommended that his constituents dine alone on Thanksgiving.

The establishment elite – not to be confused with the merely rich — operate by rules that grow without regard to what the populace want or need. For example, the Recall document mentions Assembly Bill 5, which assumes everyone wants to be an employee rather than an independent contractor, thus ruining the livelihood of many happily self employed workers.

The establishment elite do not seem to notice that often there is a discrepancy between what they mandate and what they do, as exemplified by Newsom’s French Laundry incident.

Thus, Gavin Newsom’s image stands as dubious as his policies, and a recall election to give voters a chance to weigh in on how seriously they take this matter is warranted.

GameStop Saga Continues: Congressional Hearing on Feb 18

The GameStop saga will enter a new phase on February 18, when Congress will start investigating “unethical conduct” by hedge funds. Was there any?

By January 2021 half a dozen or so short sellers had lost around $13 billion. Retail investors on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum became catalysts in catapulting the stock price of GameStop from $13.66 on December 9 to $345.83 on January 27. The unfortunate short sellers were betting the stock price of ailing GameStop would fall.

Who knows why any of the retail investors chose to invest in GameStop. Money can be made by purchasing a low-priced stock, pushing the price up by incentivizing lots of other purchasers, and selling before the stock crashes. Also much satisfaction can come from watching short sellers and other dealers in market misery squirm.

Regardless of gain or loss, or impetus for the massive investment in an ailing company, the GameStop saga will most likely have lasting effects.

Congress Wants to “Do Something”

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, announced a full Committee virtual hearing for February 18, at 12 PM ET. Subpoenas have gone to the CEOs of Reddit, Robbinhood Markets Inc. (on-line investing platform), Melvin Capital Management LP, Citadel LLC (capital management), and Keith Gill (retail investor).

Congresswoman Waters’ statement:

We must deal with the hedge funds whose unethical conduct directly led to the recent market volatility and we must examine the market in general and how it has been manipulated by hedge funds and their financial partners to benefit themselves while others pay the price.

Did either the short sellers or the retail investors involved in GameStop do anything illegal or even unethical? They appear to have done what law and practice has allowed since the financialization of the U.S. economy away from manufacturing, the proliferation of financial instruments that facilitate market manipulation, and the abundance of cheap money and debt.

The Misery Makers Might Get a Slap on Their Wrist

Hedge funds who use short selling as one of their many money-making activities and private equity firms who specialize in buying ailing companies are indeed the most visible dealers in market misery today. Private equity firms buy struggling companies with cheap borrowed money, and burden the companies with debt and a downsized workforce. As the companies struggle to pay interest on their debt, hedge funds borrow the companies’ stock from brokers, sell it, and then buy back the stocks at a lower price.

Poor management, inflexible strategies in changing times, and lately government responses to the Covid-19 pandemic contributed to the downfall of companies that were household names: Thomas Cook Travel, J. Crew, Neiman Marcus, Toys R Us. However, the role of the misery makers should not be overlooked.

But they also shared one increasingly common problem for retailers in dire straits: an enormous debt burden — roughly $1.7 billion for J. Crew and almost $5 billion for Neiman Marcus — from leveraged buyouts led by private equity firms. Like many other retailers, J. Crew and Neiman over the past decade paid hundreds of millions of dollars in interest and fees to their new owners, when they needed to spend money to adapt to a shifting retail environment. The Pandemic Helped Topple Two Retailers. So Did Private Equity, NY Times, June 18, 2020

Unsustainable debt is a good indicator of a company in decline that can enrich short sellers. GameStop’s debt was almost 6 times its equity at July 31, 2020.

At February 12, 2021, GameStop’s price was $52.40. Depending on when investors bought GameStop stock, and when they sold it, if they sold it, they either made money or they lost money. That’s how markets work.

Let’s see what Maxine Waters contributes to this saga.

Immigrants Still Build Empires

Immigrants have gone from being viewed as the builders of America to being labeled victims of “white supremacy.” Why?

Random thought: Is the Woke crowd underestimating the intelligence of immigrants unwittingly or purposefully to fulfill some agenda?

Actions that should bring this question to mind are not new. All children up to their late teen years have quick little brains that learn languages adequately when plunged into a new language environment, yet “bilingual education” treats them like slow learners sometimes for years. Politicians and the media lump immigrants into the category of “people of color,” and relegate that group to the helpless people pile. Progressives express astonishment when naturalized Latino citizens vote for non-progressive candidates (as so many voted for Donald Trump) thereby ignoring the progressive mandate.

Immigrants have gone from being viewed as the builders of America, the captains of industry and culture to being the victims of “white supremacy.” Are our children learning about Andrew Carnegie and Isabel Allende? How about Sandra Cisneros and her classic The House on Mango Street?

One of the most important themes of The House on Mango Street is the power of words. Esperanza first learns that the lack of language (especially English) means powerlessness, as with Mamacita, who is trapped in her apartment by her ignorance and fear of English. This leads to Esperanza understanding the power of controlling language, which first comes through the idea of names. Litcharts – The House on Mango Street

Words and language are immensely powerful tools. Control language, control our personal destiny. Control language, control the populace. Repeat enough times words like “white supremacy,” and even putdowns sound like fighting words for equity and justice:

We are prioritizing antiracist arts instruction in our work,” department director Sam Bass told ABC7. “The use of so many acronyms within the educational field often tends to alienate those who may not speak English to understand the acronym. Newsweek, 02/02/21

And not capable to inquire, find out, get acquainted with an acronym?

In Rules for Radicals, Saul Alinsky’s manual for radical change, he says,

The general idea here is that purity about tactics is a luxury that only the already powerful can afford; that doesn’t mean anything goes, but it does mean that the undesirability of a particular means has to be weighed against the gravity of the injustice being fought.

The organizers first job is to create the issues or problems, and organizations must be based on many issues. The organizer must first rub raw the resentments of the people of the community; fan the latent hostilities of many of the people to the point of overt expression. He must search out controversy and issues, rather than avoid them, for unless there is controversy people are not concerned enough to act. . . . An organizer must stir up dissatisfaction and discontent.

If erasing the past, creating issues, and cornering as many groups as possible into a corner of helplessness furthers a cause, so be it.

Pictured: Beto Perez (standing), immigrant from Colombia and founder of the enormously successful Zumba aerobics routines.

Beethoven’s Eroica: Is Tyranny Voluntary?

Be careful what you vote for, you might get it. Beethoven must have thought something along those lines when Napoleon declared himself Emperor.

Recommended Film

Have you listened to Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony, the Eroica, lately? If not, you might enjoy giving yourself a little break from today’s little tyrannies and watch Beethoven’s Eroica – A film by Simon Cellan Jones – BBC 2003 . It’s free on YouTube, it’s beautiful, and the Eroica is well played.

Here we see in 1804, Prince Franz Joseph von Lobkowitz, a patron, hosting at his Vienna palace the first private performance of the Eroica. We hear discussions between the aristocratic guests, musicians, and servants respectively about the revolutionary musical path Ludwig van Beethoven took with Eroica. And we hear differing views on Napoleon Bonaparte, the original subject of this symphony.

As the symphony’s name suggests, the Eroica creates an audible image of struggle and heroic triumph — Beethoven’s view of Bonaparte.

In 1799, Bonaparte staged a coup d’etat, dissolved the Directory that ruled France and appointed himself first council. In 1804, Beethoven wrote the Eroica and dedicated it to Bonaparte.

Indeed, Bonaparte must have appeared at the time as bringer of order in midst of the chaos first brought about by the Reign of Terror and then by the ineffective Directory.

However, he also gave evidence of being a talented and ruthless opportunist by conquering most of Europe. When Bonaparte proclaimed himself Emperor, Beethoven changed the dedication of Eroica to his patron, von Lobkowitz.

Beethoven was able to turn his back on his former hero. All he had to do was erase Bonaparte’s name from the Eroica’s score and replace it with that of Lobkowitz. But the people of France and later most of the territory Napoleon Bonaparte conquered were not able to get rid of him so easily. His reign lasted until 1815.

Tyranny starts as voluntary

Voluntary tyranny sounds totally counterintuitive. But is it? Some of the world’s notable tyrants enjoyed popular support at the beginning of their careers.

Here are a couple of quotes that might explain the paradigm.

Recognizing a Tyrant To Be, Econlib.org, May 18, 2019

Everything is a matter of degree, and we should say that a ruler is a tyrant to the extent that he consistently favors a given part of the population against another, even if the law allows it.

Thus, recognizing a tyrant is not easy, especially before he has assumed full power. The process can be so gradual that most people may not see tyranny coming; only the last step may be obvious.

John Philpot Curran, The Speeches:

It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.

Be careful what you vote for, you might get it.

The Great Reset: Elites Caring About Us?

Proponents of The Great Reset view Covid-19 as “a great opportunity” to implement controlled globalization guided by moral governance. Note, “governance” is the term used, not government. By way of reminder, government implies leaders elected by their constituents; while “governance” implies rules implemented by the non-elected.

During the week of January 25, the World Economic Forum will meet digitally for “high-level ‘Davos Dialogues’ where key global leaders will share their views on the state of the world in 2021.”

The WEF’s annual January in-person conference in Davos, Switzerland, has been postponed until May 2021.

Background

The Word Economic Forum, a non-profit foundation established in 1971 in Geneva, Switzerland, considers itself “the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.” Its mission is to engage “the foremost political, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.” It says its aim is to be impartial, global, holistic and forward looking.

WEF holds annual meetings in Davos, Switzerland. Although their Open Forum is free and “anybody can attend” (if you queue up early, since space is limited), free main events are by invitation only. Uninvited members of WEF can attend for a fee (around 480,000 Pounds Sterling or around 650,000 U.S. Dollars). Around 3,000 people typically attend, usually about 1/3 from business and the rest from government and quasi-government.

The Great Reset

WEF’s agenda for 2021will continue to be “The Great Reset”. The January 2020 meeting rebranded this long-time push for controlled globalization as response to Covid-19. The fine points of this agenda are expected in 2021. But the general platform seems to be set.

Build Back Better: Highlight of The Great Reset

“Build Back Better” is the core principle for those who believe capitalism is not working, so every aspect of our society needs to be re-shaped. Among the most ambitious plans are the following:

* Corporations must give up shareholder (owner) focus and adopt stakeholder (society as a whole) focus. The public sector must support this new focus.

* Harm to the global environment dominated the latest Global Risk Report. Therefore, both private and public sectors must take action to mitigate climate change and other environmental threats.

* New education models must equip children with skills demanded by globalization and rapid advances in technology.

* Building Back Better must include a wide-range of investments by the public sector – government spending in improved greener infrastructures as well as in human capital.

* Both private and public sectors must adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution can be described as the advent of “cyber-physical systems” involving entirely new capabilities for people and machines … Examples include genome editing, new forms of machine intelligence, breakthrough materials and approaches to governance that rely on cryptographic methods such as the blockchain.

The Great Opportunity

Proponents of The Great Reset view Covid-19 as “a great opportunity” to implement controlled globalization guided by moral governance. Note, “governance” is the term used, not government. By way of reminder, government implies leaders elected by their constituents; while “governance” implies rules implemented by the non-elected.

Precedents

Jekyll Island and the Federal Reserve: In November of 1910 leaders of the financial world met in secret at Jekyll Island, off the coast of Georgia. The crisis that prompted the meeting was not a virus but persistent foolish investments that resulted in bank runs and general financial instability. The response was the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank, an independent institution that operates outside the control of Congress or any other elected body. Indeed the Fed provided reasonable financial stability, but unfortunately brought about undesirable results as well.

The fact that the Federal Reserve was born on Jekyll Island backed by the cream of the banking elite, it enables a debt-based economy, and it finances wars is freely acknowledged even by the Federal Reserve. End the Fed, April 25, 2018, Just Vote No

Bretton Woods and the short-lived gold-backed dollar: In 1944, the cream of the crop in the financial world met again, this time in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The crisis turned into opportunity was the need to plan for the reconstruction of war-torn Europe and Japan. The response was the establishment of the International Monetary Fund, the establishment of the Bank for Reconstruction and Development (now called the World Global Bank), and the creation of a totally new monetary system. The new system made the U.S. Dollar a global currency pegged to gold reserves, and all other currencies pegged to the dollar. The strong dollar allowed Europe and Japan to revive their manufacturing base by selling their goods to the U.S. Unfortunately, discipline required to maintain the dollar pegged to gold evaporated by 1971, opening the floodgates of government spending and unsustainable debt.

Now the “Public-Private” Elite Meets Again

Again people important enough to be invited to the table will meet at Davos. This time the meetings are not secret — as in Jekyll Island — or as narrowly focused — as in Bretton Woods.

This time, participants aim to shape all sectors of the global society: Manufacturing, Consumption, Digital Economy, Energy, Financial and Monetary Systems, Global Public Goods, Health and Healthcare, Investing, Media, Mobility, Technology Governance, Trade and Global Economic Interdependence, The Internet of Things, New Economy and Society.

We The Little People

Those of us nowhere near important to be invited to Davos or well off enough to pay around $600,000 to attend need to remain vigilant. When our elected officials start talking about “building back better” and reshaping institutions, we need to sift through the rhetoric and find out what it is we will eventually be voting for and how much will need to be taken out of our wallets.

Author: Marcy

A Modest Proposal: Rename April 1 Useful Fools Day

Parents of School Children are Fighting Back

The BLM-Inspired Schools of California

Recommended Article: Cancel Culture Threatening My World

Freedom Trash Can to Mask Burning

Governor Newsom’s Recall Turns Real

GameStop Saga Continues: Congressional Hearing on Feb 18

Immigrants Still Build Empires

Beethoven’s Eroica: Is Tyranny Voluntary?

The Great Reset: Elites Caring About Us?

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