Our Contentious System, Part Two/A

Our economic system is highly contentious, and some want, and frankly we've been heading toward, what is commonly called a "dog-eat-dog" system with few if any rules, where some people get an advantage and exploit that advantage to the fullest for personal gain, no matter who gets hurt in the process. If someone would give them money for their mother, they would sell her in a heartbeat; after all, "she only raised me, but what has she done for me lately?" The people who are more than likely to want this kind of system, dating back to the beginnings of mankind, are more than likely well off, with a bunch of psychological problems needing psychiatric attention as soon as possible, before they either destroy everyone, or we turn and destroy them in self defense. They have superegos that need a constant "fix," just like a drug user. The only things is, in modern America, we lock drug users up, but we let the egomaniacs run wild, destroying our lives, our country and perhaps the world, and some folks even want to reward these egomaniac misfits with tax breaks and tax cuts!

The country and parts of the world have allowed the egomaniacs/super rich to rise to a point of power that is now difficult to roll back. The Citizens United decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed them to use their virtually unlimited resources to keep them in control, no matter who is president, or which party is in control of Congress, although they hope for the far more compliant Republicans, most of whom seem more than willing to do their bidding. These superegos are so spoiled, they now see what was once moderation as being "socialist" or even "communist," but they need that "fix." As I've said here many times before, most Americans want businesses to succeed, but we want "success, not excess," and we've seen lots and lots of excess in more recent times. Since the continued rise of the superegos and super rich, the country has been in decline, which is the opposite of what they tell us, "Give us tax cuts, less regulation and everything will by okay." Nonsense! This has been going on for over three decades, we're worse off, by far. Occupy Wall Street and unions have brought the inequality issue front and center, although it has currently lost some steam. If the system continues to allow income to flow from everyone else to the top, only bloodshed will change things.  They are not going to give up power quietly. Look at how they're trying to destroy Obama, and he's basically supportive of the system. You must toe the line in giving them a total free hand, or else. Unions, Occupy Wall Street, and others are trying to get other Americans to pay attention, but I'm afraid until these other Americans too fall under the yoke of the superegos, they may not listen, and it will definitely be too late then. The worst thing is to think nothing can be done about the situation. Remember the five dollar a month bank fee by Bank of America that was stopped a few months ago by common action by everyday citizens? Undoubtedly some, like sheep going to the slaughter, were willing to pay and accept their fate. WE can make a difference. It is a contentious system, BE CONTENTIOUS. Trust me, the big boys are NOT worried about YOU and they are more than willing to be contentious.

We had some fairly tough regulation put into effect by President Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, and by his distant cousin, President Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat. I just looked out the window and Mother Earth was still there, and history shows that the rich were still the rich and prosperity was much more widespread, helped along by the regulations of the above presidents and others. One thing has changed in the last few decades, the rich are MUCH richer, and the country is in decline. The emergency bell is ringing folks!     

More in "Part Two/B"

WORD HISTORY:
Hold-The ultimate origins of this word are uncertain, but many believe it to be from Indo European. Old Germanic had "haldanan," which meant "to grasp, to keep." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "healdan," with the same basic meaning, but with the added "keep watch over," a meaning which then went to the closely related "behold" (see note below ^). This then became "holden," before the modern form. The noun form developed from the verb with the meaning "grip/grasp" ("get a good hold on the desk before you lift it"), and also "fort," now more common in the compound "stronghold." The noun form used for storage in planes or ships, as in "ship's hold," is not from the same word, in spite of the similar meaning, but rather it is closely related to "hole." Common in the other Germanic languages; these are verbal forms: German has "halten," Low German has "hoolden," Dutch has "houden" (not an error, there is no "l"), West Frisian has "hâlde,"  Danish has "holde," Norwegian has "halda/holde" (depending upon dialect), Icelandic has "halda," and Swedish has "hålla" (no error here either, there is no "d").

^ For the history of the related "behold," see:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2012/06/english-its-closest-relatives-part-two.html