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Alimony is a system by which, when two people make a mistake, one of them keeps paying for it.

quote by Peggy Joyce
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Alimony

(r. l. jones/w. young/r. higginbotham)
(c) - (f) - (g)
(c) look at this one, look at that one
Tell me do they look like me
All my (f) friends said, dont you worry
Said theyll testify for (c) me
Well, I (g) wonder which of (f) my friends had it in for (c) me
Alimony, alimony, alimony is killing me
I dont (f) want six extra children
When aint but two that look like (c) me
Please, have (g) mercy, judge your (f)honor
Alimony is killing (c) me
Please, have mercy, judge your honor
Im as poor as I can be
Aint had money in my pockets
Since way back in fifty three
Cant you cut down all my payment ?
Alimony is killing me
Alimony, alimony, alimony is killing me
Alimony, alimony, alimony is killing me

song performed by Ry Cooder
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Alimony

Alimony alimony I work till my fingers are bloody and boney
Me oh my oh goodness sake I'm paying for my mistake
She calls it alimony alimony yeah you single men may think it's funny
Till one of these days you're gonna wake and find you're payin' for your mistake

Pom pom I walk around ragged like a low-down bum
I can't afford to weigh myself or buy a stick of gum
It's the same old story with a little more blues in it
I'm payin' for it while someone else is usin' it
Alimony alimony I thought I bought steak and it was all baloney
My heart and back are both about to break from payin' for my mistake yeah
[ harmonica ]
Yeah I walk around ragged like a low down bum
I can't afford to weigh myself or buy a stick of gum
Why it's the same old story with a little more blues in it
I'm payin' for it while someone else is usin' it
Alimony alimony thought I bought steak and it was just baloney
And every penny that I make goes to payin' for my mistake

Oh yeah payin' for my mistake every Wednesday
Yeah aw come on baby y'know it's your mistake too yeah
They took all the furniture and everything come on
Why maybe we could sorta pitch in and work it out y'know
I mean I could get a third job if that's what you want I mean
What about sellin' my blood y'know

poem by Sheldon Allan Silverstein
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You Are In My System

Day by day and night by night
I feel you in my mind
It happens all the time
You know the day dreams stop
My heart beats on
I cant take it any more
It's you I live for
You are in my system
You are in my system
I just want you to know that,
You are in my system
You oooohhhh youre in my system, system
Dont you, Dont you, dont you know that, babe.
I will keep on pushing, pushing, pushing
Until I get through
My main objective baby is to get to you
To turn your mind around
I know will take time
But you know I can wait, now
Youre on my mind
You are in my system
I just want you to know that,
You are in my system
Got me burning, Im on fire
You, youre in my system
Youre everything I need
You, oooohhhh, youre in my system, system
Dont you, Dont you, dont you know that, babe.
Its a romantic vision of me and you
It happens all the time
My dreams are filled with you
Theres no doubt in my mind
That Ill be true baby
You know Ill take you out
And Ill keep lovin you
Oh baby you are in my system,
I just want you to know that
You are in my system
Cut me right down to the wire
You, ooohh, youre in my system
Got me burning Im on fire
You, youre in my system
Cant make believe
You, youre in my system
Youre everything I need
You, Ooohh, youre in my system
I just want you to know that
You, youre my system
Got me burning Im on fire
You, youre in my system

song performed by Robert Palmer
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System Of Life

Now its time to look in your eyes
Youre so much better its no surprise
Its like a mirror is watching you
Maybe the words been broken - dont be no fool
Following the lights you see like a rolling train
Yesterday is gone - tomorrows in your hands
Something youve had is gone - dont wish it back
Let it go - dont run away - its nothing youll forget
You know the rules dont need no warning
Theres only one way to find the clue
Inside you so let it go
System of life - be the hunted or the hunter
System of life
System of life - its always by your side
System of life - the one and only way to live in harmony
Dont paint a picture full of love and hate
Paradise is here - but exceptions prove the rules
Sometimes it feels just like a dream becoming true
Close your eyes - look inside - it will never be the same
cause for your life there aint no warning
So stand up and fight to find the clue
So watch out you live and learn
Its the
System of life - be the broken or the breaker
System of life
Its the
System of life - its always real and true
System of life - the one and only way to live in harmony
Yeah - yeah
Oh, its the
System of life - be the hunted or the hunter
System of life
Its the
System of life - its always by your side
System of life - the one and only way to live in harmony
Its the
System of life - be the taken or the taker
System of life
Its the
System of life - its always real and true
System of life

song performed by U. D. O.
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Shock To The System

Woah yeah
It was a night, l.a., burning bright
Oh what a night
Say yeah,come on
It makes my world stand still
Ahh riot, rape, race and revolution, ah yeah
Here come the fire, and my world burns still
Yoww say yeah
Well, you can rock this land baby yowww
Like a shock to the system
I feel good, well alright
Like a shock to the system
Say yeah, aint it irie
It was a night
Hell of a night, l.a., it really was
Oh what a riot
I said yeah, come on
It makes my life feel real
Fear police and civil corruption oh yeah
Is there a man who would be king
And the world stood still
Ah yeah loud
You can rock this land baby
Yeahhh
Like a shock to the system
It feel good, well alright
Like a shock to the system
I said yeah, come on baby
Shock to the system
Feel good, well alright
Like a shock, shock to the system
I say yeah, I say yeah, I say yeah
Come on baby
Yeah, well you can rock this land baby
Like a shock, shock to the system
It feel good, well alright
Like a shock to the system
I say yeah
Aint it irie
Shock to the system
It feel good, well alright
Like a shock to the system
I say yeah
I say yeah
I say yeah, come on baby
Shock to the, shock to the
Shock to the system
Loud I gotta
Shock to the, shock to the
Shock to the system

[...] Read more

song performed by Billy Idol
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Big Mistake

Keeps them all waiting
Theyre standing in line
He never has to worry about being alone
Hes taking his own sweet time
The mans mighty hot
Believe it or not
Every womans after what the big boys got
They know its all a lie but theyre taking their shot
He is such a smooth-talking man
They never want to let him go
Hell be gone when the morning comes
Then theyll be the first to know
Its just a big mistake
Such a big mistake
Well, it wont be the first
It definitely wont be the last one you make
Just a big mistake
Sooner or later theyre gonna find out
He never cares about the hearts hes breaking tonight
Hes letting it all hang out
The mans mighty tough
Better leave before it starts to get too rough
He such a smooth-talking man
They never want to let him go
Hell be gone when the morning comes
Then theyll be the first to know
Its a big mistake
Such a big mistake
Well, it wont be the first
It definitely wont be the last one you make
Such a big mistake
Just a big mistake
Such a big mistake
Such a big mistake
You might think you oughta call him mr. right
Baby you might get a big surprise tonight
You might think you oughta call him mr. right
Baby you might get a big surprise tonight
In the morning when you find him gone
Its a big mistake
You know youve been lied to
In the morning when you know youre wrong
Such a big mistake
Theres no one to cry to
In the morning when you find him gone
Its a big mistake
You know youve been lied to
In the morning when youre so alone
Such a big mistake
When youre so alone

[...] Read more

song performed by Peter Cetera
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If You Ever Make a Mistake

If you make a mistake,
Admit it.
And get it right out of your way.
Don't you ever fake it to escape.
Believing what is done is okay!

If you ever make a mistake,
Just admit it!
And get it out of the way.
Don't you ever fake it to escape...
That mistake someday you'll repay!

There's no need for moaning or groaning,
Over what's been done.
No one lives a perfect life,
Under the Sun!

Alibis are like houseflies.
They begin to annoy.
And habits are like pests when invited...
They are hard to destroy.

Even if you hit 'em with a bat...
They come right back!

If you make a mistake,
Admit it.
And get it right out of your way.
Don't you ever fake it to escape.
Believing what is done is okay!

If you ever make a mistake,
Just admit it!
And get it out of the way.
Don't you ever fake it to escape...
That mistake someday you'll repay!

Strap in that saddle and take that ride.
Admit that mistake made,
And push it aside!

'Okay, okay, okay!
So I made a mistake.
So what's the big deal? '

~Getting you to admit it! ~

If you make a mistake,
Admit it.
And get it right out of your way.

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Its A Mistake

Jump down the shelters to get away
The boys are cockin up their guns
Tell us general, is it party time?
If it is can we all come
Dont think that we dont know
Dont think that were not trying
Dont think we move too slow
Its no use after crying
Saying
Its a mistake, its a mistake
Its a mistake, its a mistake
After the laughter as died away
And all the boys have had their fun
No surface noise now, not much to say
Theyve got the bad guys on the run
Dont try to say youre sorry
Dont say he drew his gun
Theyve gone and grabbed old ronnie
Hes not the only one saying
Its a mistake, its a mistake
Its a mistake, its a mistake
Tell us commander, what do you think?
cos we know that you love all that power
Is it on then, are we on the brink?
We wish youd all throw in the towel
Well not fade out too soon
Not in this finest hour
Whistle your favourite tune
Well send a card and flower
Saying
Its a mistake, its a mistake
Its a mistake, its a mistake

song performed by Men At Work
Added by Lucian Velea
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Bernadette

I dont wanna leave, bernadette,
But I dont wanna live with the jet set.
I dont wanna leave with you payin all my debts,
With that alimony, palimony, whatever it is you get.
Ooh, bernadette, you are so expensive.
Youve never done a days work in your life,
Youve got no incentive.
Youve made a career out of punting off all of the men youve slept with.
Ooh, bernadette, you are so expensive.
I cant get a job, bernadette,
So all that I can offer are a lot of bad debts
If you marry me, bernadette,
Youll lose the alimony, palimony, whatever it is you get.
Ooh, bernadette, you are so expensive.
Youve never done a days work in your life,
Youve got no incentive.
Youve made a career out of punting off all of the men youve slept with.
Ooh, bernadette, you are so expensive.
Ooh, bernadette, bernadette.
Ooh, bernadette, bernadette.
[bernadettes got a house in the country,
Shes really got it made.
Her lawyers made her filthy rich,
Shes got all expenses paid.]
Maybe a famous rock star will fly you away,
Then youll eat him all up,
And spit him out,
With a dash of perrier.
And when youve had enough
Youll throw him away,
And take him for all you can get.
Yeah, you like it dont you, bernadette?
I dont want to leave bernadette,
But I wanna keep a little bit of self respect.
I dont want to leave with you paying all my debts,
With that alimony, palimony, whatever it is you get.
Ooh, bernadette, you are so expensive.
Youve never done a days work in your life.
Youve got no incentive.
Women like you oughta be locked up,
For giving others a bad name.
Ohh, bernadette, you are so expensive.
Ooh, bernadette, bernadette.
Ooh, bernadette.
I think youre sad.

song performed by Kinks
Added by Lucian Velea
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My Mistake

(p. sawyer/g. jones)
My mistake was to love you, girl
Love you, girl
My mistake was to give you all
Tell the world
First i had you
In the palm of my hand
But i let you slip through
Like rain to sand
At the beginning
When i didn't care
Like my own reflection
You were always there
My mistake was to love you, girl
Love you, girl
My mistake was to give you all
Tell the world
You were sweeter
Then my very own skin
But what did i do for you
Not a thing
In front of my friends
You broke me down
Since then darling
It's hard to track you down
My mistake was to love you, boy
Love you, boy
My mistake was to give my all
Tell the world
Many a smile
You put om ny face
But i paid dearly
With the tears i taste
My tenderness
Made you cold, not sweet
'cause if a girl loves you
You only call her weak
My mistake was to love you, boy
Love you, boy
My mistake was to give my all
Tell the world
My mistake was to love you, girl
Love you, girl
My mistake was to give you all
Tell the world

song performed by Diana Ross
Added by Lucian Velea
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All Different, But Still The Same

Some people have short hair, some have long.
Some people have thick hair; some people’s hair is all gone.

Some people have black hair, some have gray.
Some people have brown hair, some blonde, some red.
Some people’s hair a color unsaid.

Some people are short, some people are tall.
Some people will love you; some won’t like you at all.

Some people like hot weather, some like cold.
Some people are timid, some people are bold.
Some people have dark skin, some people have light.
Some people have black skin, some people have white.

Some people eat meat; some won’t touch it at all.
Some people have a good memory, some can’t recall.
Some people accept Christ, some never will.
Some people are stingy, some people give.

Some people like school, some people don’t.
Some people will excel, some people won’t.
Some people smoke cigarettes, some never will.
Some people are honest, some people steal.

Some people have book knowledge;
But don’t know the Holy Book.
Some people burn food, some people can cook.

Some people are old, some people are young.
Some people do smart things, some people do dumb.

Some people just have a diploma
Some people have degrees.
Some people do things slow, some with a breeze.
Some people are complainers, some easy to please.

Some people hate shopping, some stay in the mall.
Some people hate God, but God loves us all.

We are all different, but still the same.

When I get cut, I bleed red;
You get cut, red blood you’ll shed.

Some people are plump, some people are thin.
But we are all the same, we’re all human being.

Copyright © 2010-Phyllis Strong

poem by Phyllis Strong
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Wages Of Sin

When we fight and I wanna talk it out
You wont say nothing, nothing at all
You just sit there, you wont open that pretty mouth
I think you like keeping my back up against the wall
Wages of sin, you keep me paying
Wages of sin for wrongs that Ive done
Wages of sin, you keep me paying
Wages of sin, one by one
I walk in the apartment, theres clothes thrown all over the place
Youre crouched in the corner with makeup running down your face
I dont wanna believe what my heart keeps saying
You keep me on the line so you can keep me paying
Wages of sin, we keep paying
Wages of sin for the wrongs that weve done
Wages of sin, we keep paying
Wages of sin, thats how we have our fun
I remember when I was a little boy out where the cottonwoods grow tall
Trying to make it home through the forest before the darkness falls
Baby all the sounds I heard, even if they werent real
I was running down that broken path with the devil snapping at my heels
I tried so hard, so hard in every way
Swore someday Id grow up, just throw it all away
Cried all the tears, baby, that I could cry
Stomached all my fears till they came rushin up inside
Darlin Im losin and its a mean game
Still I play on and on just the same
Wages of sin, I keep paying
Wages of sin for some wrong that Ive done
Wages of sin, well I keep paying
Wages of sin, one by one

song performed by Bruce Springsteen
Added by Lucian Velea
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Paying Taxes

Done-with-a-minimum.
Donewithaminimum.
Done -with-a-minimum.
Donewithaminimum.

The rich pay...
Donewithaminimum, donewithaminimum, donewithaminimum.
And some say...
With lifestyles out of reach.

They've got 'moolay'...
Donewithaminimum, donewithaminimum, donewithaminimum.
And you and I will not be relieved from paying taxes.

The rich pay...
Donewithaminimum, donewithaminimum, donewithaminimum.
And some say...
With lifestyles out of reach.

They've got 'moolay'...
Donewithaminimum, donewithaminimum, donewithaminimum.
And you and I will not be relieved from paying taxes.

The money,
The rich have...
Flows nonstop!
Pootoo-poo-too-too-toot!
Pootoo-poo-too-too-toot!

The money,
The rich have...
Many aint got!
Pootoo-poo-too-too-toot!
Pootoo-poo-too-too-toot!

And those poor have paved the way,
For the snobs and snots.
It's clear who are the 'haves' and those 'have nots'.

Oh...
Done-with-a-minimum.
Do newithaminimum.
Done-with-a-minimum.
Donewi thaminimum.

The rich pay...
Donewithaminimum, donewithaminimum, donewithaminimum.
And some say...
With lifestyles out of reach.

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Mistake Pageant

I couldnt stand up looking up at the faded party
I couldnt stand up looking up at a faded party
It was a mistake pageant
It was a mistake from the start
This is a mistake pageant
But its unsuitable to laugh like the others
Couldnt stand up looking up, Im at a faded party
I couldnt stand up looking at, at a famous party
It was a mistake pageant
It was a mistake from the start
This is a mistake pageant
And I dont understand the way that youre living
Because youve had bad luck (Disorder)
And I know what it feels like to have bad luck
You cant open your eyes
You cant open your eyes
Its vain or is it just fame?
It was a mistake pageant
It was a mistake from the start
This is a mistake pageant
And I dont understand this way that youre living
Because youve had bad luck (Disorder)
And I know what it feels like to have bad luck
I hope that this wont bring you down
These people are obscured by frowns
This wont bring you down
These people, frown
Cause youve had bad luck (Disorder)
And I know what it feels like to have bad luck

song performed by Idlewild
Added by Lucian Velea
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Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society

Epigraph

Υδραν φονεύσας, μυρίων τ᾽ ἄλλων πόνων
διῆλθον ἀγέλας . . .
τὸ λοίσθιον δὲ τόνδ᾽ ἔτλην τάλας πόνον,
. . . δῶμα θριγκῶσαι κακοῖς.

I slew the Hydra, and from labour pass'd
To labour — tribes of labours! Till, at last,
Attempting one more labour, in a trice,
Alack, with ills I crowned the edifice.

You have seen better days, dear? So have I —
And worse too, for they brought no such bud-mouth
As yours to lisp "You wish you knew me!" Well,
Wise men, 't is said, have sometimes wished the same,
And wished and had their trouble for their pains.
Suppose my Œdipus should lurk at last
Under a pork-pie hat and crinoline,
And, latish, pounce on Sphynx in Leicester Square?
Or likelier, what if Sphynx in wise old age,
Grown sick of snapping foolish people's heads,
And jealous for her riddle's proper rede, —
Jealous that the good trick which served the turn
Have justice rendered it, nor class one day
With friend Home's stilts and tongs and medium-ware,—
What if the once redoubted Sphynx, I say,
(Because night draws on, and the sands increase,
And desert-whispers grow a prophecy)
Tell all to Corinth of her own accord.
Bright Corinth, not dull Thebes, for Lais' sake,
Who finds me hardly grey, and likes my nose,
And thinks a man of sixty at the prime?
Good! It shall be! Revealment of myself!
But listen, for we must co-operate;
I don't drink tea: permit me the cigar!
First, how to make the matter plain, of course —
What was the law by which I lived. Let 's see:
Ay, we must take one instant of my life
Spent sitting by your side in this neat room:
Watch well the way I use it, and don't laugh!
Here's paper on the table, pen and ink:
Give me the soiled bit — not the pretty rose!
See! having sat an hour, I'm rested now,
Therefore want work: and spy no better work
For eye and hand and mind that guides them both,
During this instant, than to draw my pen
From blot One — thus — up, up to blot Two — thus —
Which I at last reach, thus, and here's my line
Five inches long and tolerably straight:

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning (1871)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Death Of The Middle Class

Oligarchs and Banksters tighten financial screws
In a bold attempt to kill the global Middle Class
Heads of State unable/unwilling to halt this ruse
The “Great Depression of 1929” we soon surpass

ROTMS

By Andrew Gavin Marshall - Global Research

We now stand at the edge of the global financial abyss of a ‘Great Global Debt Depression, ’ where nations, mired in extreme debt, are beginning to implement ‘fiscal austerity’ measures to reduce their deficits, which will ultimately result in systematic global social genocide, as the middle classes vanish and the social foundations upon which our nations rest are swept away. How did we get here? Who brought us here? Where is this road leading? These are questions I will briefly attempt to answer.

At the heart of the global political economy is the central banking system. Central banks are responsible for printing a nation’s currency and setting interest rates, thus determining the value of the currency. This should no doubt be the prerogative of a national government, however, central banks are of a particularly deceptive nature, in which while being imbued with governmental authority, they are in fact privately owned by the world’s major global banks, and are thus profit-seeking institutions. How do central banks make a profit? The answer is simple: how do all banks make a profit? Interest on debt. Loans are made, interest rates are set, and profits are made. It is a system of debt, imperial economics at its finest.

In the United States, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act in 1913, creating the Federal Reserve System, with the Board located in Washington, appointed by the President, but where true power rested in the 12 regional banks, most notably among them, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The regional Fed banks were private banks, owned in shares by the major banks in each region, which elected the board members to represent them, and who would then share power with the Federal Reserve Board in Washington.

In the early 1920s, the Council on Foreign Relations was formed in the United States as the premier foreign policy think tank, dominated by powerful banking interests. In 1930, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) was created to manage German reparations payments, but it also had another role, which was much less known, but much more significant. It was to act as a “coordinator of the operations of central banks around the world.” Essentially, it is the central bank for the world’s central banks, whose operations are kept ‘strictly confidential.’ As historian Carroll Quigley wrote:

'The powers of financial capitalism had another far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences. The apex of the system was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world’s central banks which were themselves private corporations.'

In 1954, the Bilderberg Group was formed as a secretive global think tank, comprising intellectual, financial, corporate, political, military and media elites from Western Europe and North America, with prominent bankers such as David Rockefeller, as well as European royalty, such as the Dutch royal family, who are the largest shareholders in Royal Dutch Shell, whose CEO attends every meeting. This group of roughly 130 elites meets every year in secret to discuss and debate global affairs, and to set general goals and undertake broad agendas at various meetings. The group was initially formed to promote European integration. The 1956 meeting discussed European integration and a common currency. In fact, the current Chairman of the Bilderberg Group told European media last year that the euro was debated at the Bilderberg Group.

In 1973, David Rockefeller, Chairman and CEO of Chase Manhattan Bank, Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Steering Committee of the Blderberg Group, formed the Trilateral Commission with CFR academic Zbigniew Brzezinski. That same year, the oil price shocks created a wealth of oil money, which was discussed at that years Bilderberg meeting 5 months prior to the oil shocks, and the money was funneled through western banks, which loaned it to ‘third world’ nations desperately in need of loans to finance industrialization.

When Jimmy Carter became President in 1977, he appointed over two dozen members of the Trilateral Commission into his cabinet, including himself, and of course, Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was his National Security Adviser. In 1979, Carter appointed David Rockefeller’s former aide and friend, Paul Volcker, who had held various positions at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the U.S. Treasury Department, and who also happened to be a member of the Trilateral Commission, as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. When another oil shock took place in 1979, Volcker decided to raise interest rates from 2% in the late 70s, to 18% in the early 80s. The effect this had was that the countries of the developing world suddenly had to pay enormous interest on their loans, and in 1982, Mexico announced it could no longer afford to pay its interest, and it defaulted on its debt, which set off the 1980s debt crisis – collapsing nations in debt across Latin America, Africa and parts of Asia.

It was the IMF and the World Bank came to the ‘assistance’ of the Third World with their ‘structural adjustment programs’, which forced countries seeking assistance to privatize all state owned industries and resources, devalue their currencies, liberalize their economies, dismantle health, education and social services; ultimately resulting in the re-colonization of the ‘Third World’ as Western corporations and banks bought all their assets and resources, and ultimately created the conditions of social genocide, with the spread of mass poverty, and the emergence of corrupt national elites who were subservient to the interests of Western elites. The people in these nations would protest, riot and rebel, and the states would clamp down with the police and military.

In the West, corporations and banks saw rapid, record-breaking profits. This was the era in which the term ‘globalization’ emerged. While profits soared, wages for people in the West did not. Thus, to consume in an economy in which prices were rising, people had to go into debt. This is why this era marked the rise of credit cards fueling consumption, and the middle class became a class based entirely on debt.

In the 1990s, the ‘new world order’ was born, with America ruling the global economy, free trade agreements began integrating regional and global markets for the benefit of global banks and corporations, and speculation dominated the economy.

The global economic crisis arose as a result of decades of global imperialism – known recently as ‘globalization’ – and the reckless growth of– speculation, derivatives and an explosion of debt. As the economic crisis spread, nations of the world, particularly the United States, bailed out the major banks (which should have been made to fail and crumble under their own corruption and greed) , and now the West has essentially privatized profits for the banks, and socialized the risk. In other words, the nations bought the debt from the banks, and now the people have to pay for it. The people, however, are immersed in their own personal debt to such degrees that today, the average Canadian is $39,000 in debt, and students are graduating into a jobless market with tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars of student debt that they will never repay. Hence, we are now faced with a global debt crisis.

To manage the economic crisis, the G20 was established as the major international forum for cooperation among the 20 major economies of the world, including the major developing – or emerging – economies, such as India, Brazil, South Africa and China. At the onset of the financial crisis, China and Russia’s central banks began calling for the establishment of a global currency to replace the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency. This proposal was backed by the UN and the IMF. It should be noted, however, that the Chinese and Russian central banks cooperate with the Western central banks through the Bank for International Settlements – which the President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, recently said was the principle forum for “governance of central bank cooperation” and that the G20 is “the prime group for global economic governance.” In 2009, the IMF stated that the BIS “is the central and the oldest focal point for coordination of global governance arrangements.” The President of the European Union, appointed to the position after attending a Bilderberg meeting, declared 2009 as the “first year of global governance.” The 2009 Bilderberg meeting reported on the desire to create a global treasury, or global central bank, to manage the world economy. In 2009, prior to the Bilderberg meeting in fact, the G20 set in motion plans to make the IMF a global central bank of sorts, issuing and even printing its own currency – called Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) – which is valued against a basket of currencies. In May of 2010, the IMF Managing Director stated that “crisis is an opportunity, ” and while Special Drawing Rights are a step in the right direction, ultimately what is needed is “a new global currency issued by a global central bank, with robust governance and institutional features.” Thus, we see the emergence of a process towards the formation of a global central bank and a global currency, totally unaccountable to any nation or people, and totally controlled by global banking interests.

In 2010, Greece was plunged into a debt crisis, a crisis which is now spreading across Europe, to the U.K. and eventually to Japan and the United States. If we look at Greece, we see the nature of the global debt crisis. The debt is owed to major European and American banks. To pay the interest on the debt, Greece had to get a loan from the European Central Bank and the IMF, which forced the country to impose ‘fiscal austerity’ measures as a condition for the loans, pressuring Greece to commit social genocide. Meanwhile, the major banks of America and Europe speculate against the Greek debt, further plunging the country into economic and social crisis. The loan is granted, to pay the interest, yet simply has the effect of adding to the overall debt, as a new loan is new debt. Thus, Greece is caught in the same debt trap that re-colonized the Third World.

At the recent G20 meeting in Toronto, the major nations of the world agreed to impose fiscal austerity – or in other words, commit social genocide – within their nations, in a veritable global structural adjustment program. So now we will see the beginnings of the Great Global Debt Depression, in which major western and global nations cut social spending, create mass unemployment by dismantling health, education, and social services. Further, state infrastructure – such as roads, bridges, airports, ports, railways, prisons, hospitals, electric transmission lines and water – will be privatized, so that global corporations and banks will own the entirely of national assets. Simultaneously, of course, taxes will be raised dramatically to levels never before seen. The BIS said that interest rates should rise at the same time, meaning that interest payments on debt will dramatically increase at both the national and individual level, forcing governments to turn to the IMF for loans – likely in the form of its new global reserve currency – to simply pay the interest, and will thus be absorbing more debt. Simultaneously, of course, the middle class will in effect have its debts called in, and since the middle class exists only as an illusion, the illusion will vanish.

Already, towns, cities, and states across America are resorting to drastic actions to reduce their debts, such as closing fire stations, scaling back trash collection, turning off street lights, ending bus services and public transportation, cutting back on library hours or closing them altogether, school districts cutting down the school day, week or year. Simultaneously, this is occurring with a dramatic increase in the rate of privatizations or “public-private partnerships” in which even libraries are being privatized.

No wonder then, that this month, the Managing Director of the IMF warned that America and Europe, in the midst of the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression, face an “explosion of social unrest.” Just yesterday, Europe experienced a wave of mass protests and social unrest in opposition to ‘austerity measures’, with a general strike in Spain involving millions of people, and a march on the EU headquarters in Brussels of nearly 100,000 people. As social unrest spreads, governments will likely react – as we saw in the case of the G20 in Toronto – with oppressive police state measures. Here, we see the true relevance of the emergence of ‘Homeland Security States’, designed not to protect people from terrorists, but to protect the powerful from the people.

So while things have never seemed quite so bleak, there is a dim and growing beacon of hope, in what Zbigniew Brzezinski has termed as the greatest threat to elite interests everywhere – the ‘global political awakening’. The global political awakening is representative of the fact that for the first time in all of human history, mankind is politically awakened and stirring, activated and aware, and that generally – as Zbigniew Brzezinski explains – generally is aware of global inequalities, exploitation, and disrespect. This awakening is largely the result of the information revolution – thus revealing the contradictory nature of the globalization project – as while it globalizes power and oppression, so too does it globalize awareness and opposition. This awakening is the greatest threat to entrenched elite interests everywhere. The awakening, while having taken root in the global south – already long subjected to exploitation and devastation – is now stirring in the west, and will grow as the economy crumbles. As the middle classes realize their consumption was an illusion of wealth, they will seek answers and demand true change, not the Wall Street packaged ‘brand-name’ change of Obama Inc., but true, inspired, and empowering change.

In 1967, Martin Luther King delivered a speech in which he spoke out against the Vietnam War and the American empire, and he stated that, “It seems as if we are on the wrong side of a world revolution.” So now it seems to me that the time has come for that to change.

Andrew Gavin Marshall is a Research Associate with the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) .

poem by Ray Lucero
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The Edges Are No Longer Parallel

The edges are no, no longer parallel
The edges are no, no longer parallel
And there is no law of averages here
If you feel down
Then youre bound to stay down
All of the things you said
So meaningful
They are all so suddenly meaningless
And the looks you gave
So meaningful
They are all so suddenly meaningless
Oh ...
And there is no law of averages here
If you feel down
Then youre bound to stay down
My only mistake is Im hoping
Im hoping
Im hoping
My only mistake is Im hoping
Im hoping
Im hoping
My only mistake is Im hoping
Im hoping
Im hoping
My one mistake is Im hoping
Im hoping
Im hoping
My only mistake is ...
My only mistake is I keep hoping
My only mistake is I keep hoping
My only mistake is Im hoping
Im hoping
Im hoping
Im hoping
Im hoping
Im hoping
My only mistake is Im hoping
Im hoping
Im hoping

song performed by Morrissey
Added by Lucian Velea
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Shock To My System

So there I stood, square on my side of the great divide
A message came across a void
And for the first time in my life
Im awake, Im alive
I thought I was immune to this
til I felt the static charges in the air
I touch you, youre a live wire
Youre the raw fire burning in my heart
And it took me by surprise, thats no lie
You know you are, you are a sharp, shock to my system
A spark, a real shock
You know you are, you are a sharp, shock to my system
You start I cant stop
You taught me how to listen, shock to my system
My soul, my skin, you plug me in
And all of my pain is gone just like it never was
For the first time in my life I know what I feel
Now every time we touch Im caught off my guard
Thats no lie
You know you are, you are a sharp, shock to my system,
A spark, a real shock
You know you are, you are a sharp, shock to my system
You start I cant stop
You taught me how to listen shock to my system
Shock to my system
Shock to my system
You know you are, you are a sharp, shock to my system
You start I cant stop...

song performed by Rick Springfield
Added by Lucian Velea
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Some People

Some people seem to have it all
Some people always have to crawl
Some people pay to be abused
Some people end up destitute
Some people search their souls for truth
Some people try to be of use
Some people pray before they kill
Some people kill just for the thrill
Some people follow one mans vision, some others die on television
Some people build their homes on sand, some people live in garbage cans
Some people think that live is dear, some people hope the end is near
Some people fight for right to life, some people hate to stay alive
Some people dream of life on mars, some people end their life in cars
Some people throw their lives away, some others go on holidays
Some people live and love in vain, some people dont and go insane
Some people always need to win, some other people love to sin
Some people breaking all their vows, some people slashing sacred cows
Some people like to worship stars, some people think the worlds a farce
Some people try to make ends meet, some others end up kissing feet
Some people find their holy grail, some other people go to hell
Some people never catch their breath, some people drink themselves to death
Some people seem to have it all, some people always have to crawl
Some people pay to be abused, some people end up destitute
Some people search their souls for truth
Some people try to be of use
Some people
!
Gold/ocean/1994

song performed by Alphaville
Added by Lucian Velea
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Ordinary People

In a dusty town a clock struck high noon, two men stood face to face.
One wore black and one wore white, but of fear there wasnt a trace.
Two hundred years later two hot rods drag through the very same place,
And a half a million people
Moved in to pick up the pace, a factory full of people.
Makin parts to go to outer space, a train load of people.
They were aimin for another place, out of town people.
Theres a man in the window with a big cigar, says everythings for sale.
The house and the boat and the railroad car, the owners gotta go to jail.
He acquired these things from a life of crime, now hes selling them to raise his bail.
He was rippin off the people.
Sellin guns to the underground, tryin to help the people.
Lose their ass for a piece of ground, rippin off the people.
Skimmin the top when there was no one around, tryin to help the people.
He was dealing antiques in a hardware store but he sure had a lot to hide.
He had a backroom full of the guns of war and a ton of ammunition besides.
Well, he walked with a cane, kept a bolt on the door with five pit bulls inside,
Just a warning to the people
Who might try to break in at night, protection from the people.
Selling safety in the darkest night, tryin to help the people.
Get the drugs to the street all right, ordinary people.
Well, its hard to say where a man goes wrong, might be here and it might be there.
What starts out weak might get too strong, if you cant tell foul from fair.
But its hard to judge from an angry throng of hands stretched into the air,
The vigilante people.
Takin law into their own hands, conscientious people.
Crackin down on the druglords land, government people.
Confiscatin all the dealers land, patch-of-ground people.
Down at the factory, theyre puttin new windows in.
The vandals made a mess of things, and the homeless just walked right in.
Well, they worked here once, and they live here now, but they might work here again,
Theyre ordinary people.
And theyre livin in a nightmare, hard workin people.
And they dont know how they go there, ordinary people.
And they think that you dont care, hard workin people.
Down on the assembly line, they keep puttin the same thing out.
But the people today, they just aint buyin, nobody can figure it out.
Well, they try like hell to build a quality end, theyre workin hard without a doubt,
Theyre ordinary people.
And the dollars what its all about, hard workin people.
But the customers are walkin out, lee iacocca people.
Yeah, they look but they just dont buy, hard workin people.
Two out of work models and a fashion slave try to dance away the michelob night.
The bartender poured himself another drink, while two drunks sat watchin the fight.
The champ went down, then he got up again, and then he went out like a light,
He was fightin for the people.
But his timing wasnt right, for las vegas people
Who came to see a las vegas fight, high rollin people.
Takin limos though the neon night, fightin for the people.
And then a new rolls royce and a company car they went flyin down the street.

[...] Read more

song performed by Neil Young
Added by Lucian Velea
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