Do you see any surprise here?

It is called capitalism for a reason. Capital is in charge. :-)

In you want people to be in charge, it is called socialism :-)

@subco "I also heard that the US carefully plans conflicts years ahead an invasion, in order to create 'bad guys' for its citizens to support the 'democratic liberation' of X and Y countries.. but nobody in the world takes action against this practice. Is this for real!? I refuse to believe it"

Sorry subco but it's true...

"General Wesley Clark reveals the US plan to invade and take over 7 countries, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Lybia, Somalia, Sudan, And Iran, before we even invaded Afghanistan. The first part of the plan was revealed 10 days after 9/11 and was expanded to included the other nations. Clark is quoted as saying the invasion wasn't based on links to Al-Queda or any other intelligence reports but just because the US has an army that is great at taking over other nations."

With the corporate/financial control of the the US Government along with the expanding domestic police state I think the US is closer to becoming a fascist state than many realise.

Yes, the US has not been capitalist for a while... a more accurate term is "Corporatist". The market would have been allowed to run it's natural course and the banks would have been allowed to collapse under a true free-market capitalist system.

Capitalism is actually not inherently a bad system... the government just failed preventing corporate power/corruption. Corporations should simply have never been allowed in the first place... only proprietary-ownership businesses.

@bwhitz Yes the 'too big to fails' should have been allowed to fail instead of being bailed out by the taxpayer. However that's the problem. If you know you can privatise your profits and socialise your losses then there is no incentive other than to maintain a corrupt business model.

The problem now is that after many banking failures stemming from the engineered 2008 GFC the 'too big to fails', through mergers and take overs, have become even bigger.

With most major economies (apart from China and India) now technically bankrupt then next coming financial storm will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

With most major economies (apart from China and India) now technically bankrupt

You can view on this from other side. Like this "bankrupt" countries exchanged zeroes in databases to the real goods, work and resources. Looks different, isn't it?

same invisible hand that governs physics and evolution...

I have problem with using physics in this context. And even more problem to try to attach evolution, as evolution is fighting with quite visible hand of nature, as new species fit better and can take more from nature. Most advanced species are able to learn (as it is hundreds time faster then physical adaptation), and human species added very complex social structures and rules to this to help them to fight nature (and other humans :-) ) in very big groups.

@bwhitz - "Yes, the US has not been capitalist for a while... a more accurate term is "Collectivist". "

I think the word you're looking for is "corporatist". The ruling oligarchy in the US does not operate as a collective but as an interlocking network of hierarchical power relationships. In social activist circles, collectives typically form as non-hierarchical volunteer organizations based on democratic decision-making practices. Oligarchs have little use for such idealistic notions.

@pundit

I've seen "Inside Job." It'll make you sick... and the directors/writers only touched upon the tip of the iceberg. The banks are still doing exactly what they did before the crash... with zero oversight.

This is why JP Morgan/Chase lost over 7 billion of their clients' funds on risky bets not long ago, the British banks were allowed to manipulate the LIBOR rates, and HSBC helped finance global terrorist networks and drug trafficking rings. Goldman Sachs has been hiding sovereign debt and cooking the books for Greece and other European Union members for years. Now the cat's out of the bag.

And no one has gone to jail and very few ever will. They'll pick a few underlings to throw under the bus to show that they're doing something about this mess, but nothing will actually change.

All you need are an army of lobbyists and unlimited funds to buy some politicians, my friends... ;) This isn't just happening in the U.S. It's happening EVERYWHERE.

In the U.S., Obama won't push to stop the out of control banks and Wall Street, and neither will Romney (if, God forbid, he wins this November). In politics, you don't bite the hand that feeds you.

LOL. Invisible hand theory again. It is finger of this hand that is pushing US in the big ass hole. :-) My only concern is that it could be too deep in the ass before many will see the hand :-)

Thank you for the lovely imagery V.

QUESTION: How do I edit my posts in order to highlight quotes from other forum contributors?

@JohnTollwannabe

"All you need are an army of lobbyists and unlimited funds to buy some politicians, my friends... ;) This isn't just happening in the U.S. It's happening EVERYWHERE.

In the U.S., Obama won't push to stop the out of control banks and Wall Street, and neither will Romney (if, God forbid, he wins this November). In politics, you don't bite the hand that feeds you."

Two out of the top three contributors to Obama's 2008 election campaign were Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.

@pundit,

And that's why JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs groomed sycophants like Henry Paulson (G.W. Bush's pick) and Timothy Geithner (Obama's pick) are running the Treasury and the Fed.

The foxes guard the hen house.

Under Clinton, Alan Greenspan and his merry band set the system up for failure.

Here is retired Senator Byron Dorgan (North Dakota) talking about his dire warnings from 1999. Almost 10 years later, he was proven right about removing the Glass–Steagall Act and other regulations designed to stop the calamity that happened in 2007/2008 and is still happening on Wall Street and the "too big to fail" banks.

We desperately need honest leaders like Byron Dorgan again. Now we have clowns like John Boehner (an Orange-American who likes to cry), Eric Cantor (the poster child for smarmy used car salesmen), and Harry Reid (Mr. Milk Toast) running the place.