Pyramids like capitalism always get too top-heavy, just like the pyramids we failed-at as children in the playgrounds. The upper 1/3 is “heads in the clouds” while the kids on the bottom always get crushed from having the weight of the world’s knees in their backs. All pyramids collapse, and capitalism is on its way to doing that, as we speak. I’m for abolishing/outlawing economies and hierarchies, and I’m for leveling the hierarchical design and church-simulating seen in USA courtroom designs, too. I believe economies CAUSE poverty, not alleviate it. There are many other kinds of wealth besides monetary, and monetary discrimination (and servitude) is rampant within capitalism. ALL discrimination is disgusting… but monetary discrimination is co-condoned and reinforced as an OKAY thing as John’s piece very plainly illustrates.

John’s metaphor/symbolism with the bullfighting example… if a fine one… and the word/phenomenon “luring” came to mind as I read it. My primary hobby is fishing, and although I am a strict catch’n'release guy, there is a constant voice in my head that says “take the hooks off your Rapala!”. I’m nearly at that point, but not quite. But I am already taking food with me on fishing trips… not for myself, but to try to feed the fish and start a fish and turtle feeding frenzy around the boat. I guess I like observing fish/wildlife as much, or more, than catching them.

As best I can tell, wildlife, including insects, can sense intent. When I put the fishing rod down, and instead “mess with” the fish (play with them), they seem a whole lot more curious as to what I am all about. Less than a week ago, while in a really shallow, calm, sunny bay on a small lake here in Michigan’s U.P., I had around 40 largemouth bass of various sizes… within 10 feet of my jon/pram boat. As I troll-motored ahead, they would do a slightly wide go-around of the boat, and then start following me. I’ve found the same to be true with insects. As soon as I decide not to swat at them, and instead marvel at them, they seem to land on me often, and not to bite, but to ride aboard. Twp years ago, I was given the honor of stroking the wings of a large dragonfly. I’m not exactly sure why that was exciting for me, but it was. I couldn’t stop smiling about it… for months.

Three years ago, I had a free-range Pharoah ant farm in my Minneapolis apartment, and provide food and lots of water for these blind, friendly, and highly-communal creatures. I’m quite sure insects can sense intent, and maybe all animals can, including the unlearned-in-comparison human animal. Lately, I’ve rethought the “feeding frenzy” thing as that is a form of hoop-jumping, a disgusting thing seen in dolphin shows and human employment… a type of exploitation. And, I’ve also noticed that fish and insects don’t really like synthetic human foods, and thus, I need to use dead critters to feed the live critters, and that… is some kind of conundrum. I don’t like killing living things, not plant, animal, or insect. Needless to say, I totally fell in love with the ants in my open-air ant farm in Minneapolis. Did you know you can put some cologne on a q-tip, and draw a circle around an eyeless ant, and they can’t seem to escape the circle? How mean of me, huh?

I don’t know where ANY of this is going… but, if I may back-up John’s metaphor with yet another…

Lets say you needed/wanted a horse to help you (and itself) remove a stump from a portion of farm pasture. There are three ways to get that horse to help pull that stump.

1 – Carrot/stick/string. Fool the horse into thinking that goodness is just over the horizon… the same method used by capitalist pyramids (companies) to entice 18 year olds to come to work for their companies. Potentially-false hope of riches ahead.

2 – Spurs. Pure physical force. Kick the horse into submission. Get a job, or starve, mister. This is the other method that companies use to get cheap labor… used more often when the parents of a child are born low on the pyramid scheme. (few cronies and no bloodlines of gold)

3 – Learn to speak the language of the horse, and ask it to help if it would be so kind. Show the horse how the removal of the stump would be helpful and good for both itself and the land custodian. Show the horse, why its a good idea… but if you can’t convince the horse to help, it must be left to have its freedom and not be repeatedly re-asked or hounded. It should also not be treated in any way unfairly or disrespectfully if it chooses not to join your stump-removal team project.

We ALL know that #3 is the good’n'right way. There seems to be three or more sides to EVERYTHING in this three-dimensional world we are all living within. Today, we see much talk of capitalism vs communalism and/or capitalism versus socialism, and much of the talk… still involves the use of economies (money, ownership, and price tags). This is why I take the third choice… eliminate the “devices” that cause rat-racing and classes… by outlawing money and ownership. They are controlism devices. I often accuse my father of being conned into a pyramid scheme when he was young… as he condones, promotes, and joined… capitalism… and I blatantly show him the pyramid scheme symbol on the back of the USA dollar. He claims “we had only two choices, Larry. Join the free marketeers, or die of starvation”. He is stuck in the world of US/THEM wars, or, in other words, he is stuck in the world of OPPOSITES. He is convinced there is only two sides to things… just like the 18 year olds of today. (Get a job, or die). There is ALWAYS a third choice… and often MANY third choices. His un-taken and un-recognized third choice was to find the people who put price tags (slaving requirements) on all the survival supplies, and have them arrested or worse. That would be the end of two-choice forcings/extortion. This is what I do today, while being called a commie and being hated by most. Yeah, I’m a commie. Communalist, communicator, community lover, and communion pursuer (potlucks and barnraisings). The hatred of commies is a leftover from the old US vs THEM cold war days. But, the addiction to seeing everything in opposites, is far from over… in the ugly, every-person-unto-themselves competer’s system/church called capitalism.

Okay, that’s all I have, finally. Excellent article, excellent comments, you both moved me and warmed my heart this digital Saturday morn. Thanks for being heartful and intelligent, guys/gals/whatever! Yummy reading on this end!

Larry “Wingnut” Wendlandt
MaStars – Mothers Against Stuff That Ain’t Right
(anti-capitalism-ists)
(system fighters, not role-playing-people fighters)
Bessemer MI USA

We must burry that ideology as failed and wrong and give way toward Leninist, Marxist, Christian, humanist and socialist, collective ideology and doctrine.

USA was a very developed nation producing a lot of wealth, and statibility for most US citizens compared other poorer countries and to third world nations with more corrupt governments.

USA has never been a socialist nation, however the capitalist-welfare american system provided stability for most americans thru the a “trickle down capitalist welfare system”.

Unfortunately, thanks to the mafia-cartels of both capitalist parties (Democrats and Republicans)this ‘trickle down welfare capitalist system’ which has provided stability for most of americans is coming to an end ending !!

THE MAIN REASON OF WHY USA CITIZENS ARE NOT REVOLTING, IS THAT THE US CENTRAL BANK (FEDERAL RESERVE) IS PUMPING DOLLARS INTO THE US ECONOMY WITHOUT END, AND BACKING THOSE DOLLARS WITH LOANS. HOWEVER SOONER OR LATER THE US ECONOMY WILL GRIND TO A HALT !!

IN OTHERS WORDS THE US CITIZENS ARE NOT REVOLTING BECAUSE USA IS NOT AT A REVOLUTIONARY OBJECTIVE SITUATION YET !!

Sooner or later this ‘tricke down welfare capitalist system’ will not provide bread for all, and will morph a plutocratic corporate capitalist system that can only provide stability, food and wealth for the upper bourgeoise classes of America.

when that time comes we will see a revolutionary situation, when the proletariat take the bull by its horns and overthrows the corporate corrupted capitalist system for complete emancipation of the workign classes of this country

HERE ARE THE MAIN 3 TRAITS OF A REVOLUTIONARY SITUATION IN USA:

# 1 – When it is impossible for the rich people of this country (like Bill Gates, Jennifer Lopez, Tom Cruise, Donald Trump, Al Gore, Ross Perot, Dick Cheney, etc.) to maintain their wealth without any change; when there is an economic crisis, in one form or another, among the rich people, a crisis in the policy of the rich ruling class, leading to a fissure through which the discontent and indignation of middle and lower classes of America burst forth. For a socialist-revolution to take place, it is usually insufficient for the middle and lower classes not to want to live in their old comfortable and stable way; it is also necessary that the rich upper millionaire class should be unable to live in their old comfortable way.

# 2 – When the suffering and the needs of the middle and lower working classes of this country have grown more acute than usual

# 3 – When, as a consequence of the above causes, there is a considerable increase in the activity of the middle and working classes, who uncomplainingly allow themselves to be robbed in peace time, but, in turbulent times, are drawn both by all the circumstances of the crisis *and by the upper classes themselves* into independent historical action.

READ SOME OF MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS ON HOW TO SAVE UNITED STATES FROM SINKING LIKE THE TITANIC:

What USA needs is a gradual change toward a participative-democratic socialist system of the XXI Century, thru a Constitutional Reform by a Constitutional Assembly like many modern nations today are reforming their own political and economic systems in order to change this country from a corporate-kleptocratic plutocracy of the few into a participative-democratic social economic democracy for all americans, not for the few millionaires and billionaires.

A Political Reform would not be complete without a democratic economic reform, so that USA could move from a corporate-capitalist country toward a real democratic workers socialist economy by the workers in favor of workers who are the creators of wealth like Karl Marx said.

The wealth of this great land belongs to all US citizens and specially *workers* who are the creators of wealth, but they won’t be able to claim that wealth without a nationalization program under state and workers-control of the key elements of US industries like oil, water, communication, electricity, gold, mines, etc.

Americans also need access to subsidized or free Universities and Colleges, this country needs more public socialist education instead of private education. It would also be a great idea for US government to regulate right-wing stations like CNN and FOX and also to create a state-owned progressive TV station with progressive media people like Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, in order to spread the ideology of the US founding fathers, to teach americans democratic egalitarian values, so that thru a good education programs americans truely be free individuals and architects of of our own destiny and wealth. On the international level it is worth studying the closing of most US military bases, the incorporation of USA in the ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative of the Americas), and it would be a great idea to consider Jimmy Carter as peace missioner on the Israeli-Palestine conflict.