November 15, 2019 (Gunnar Ulson - NEO) - At first glance the Danish toy company Lego doesn't seem to have much to do with paradigm shifts in technology. Yet a recent incident illustrates the march forward of modern technology and the threat it poses to not only well-established but inflexible companies like Lego, but to entire industries and their collective impact on global economics.
Clinging to Antiquated Business Models
Lego has recently mounted an intellectual property (IP) crusade against 3D designers sharing Lego-style creations on free online 3D model libraries. People download these designs and 3D print them out. It should be pointed out that many of these designs are highly unique and are not merely replicas of products Lego sells.
Some online 3D model libraries immediately capitulated to Lego's legal notices to take down the various designs.
One online 3D model library, MyMiniFactory, not only initially ignored the take-down notices, it created a contest challenging designers to come up with an alternative modular building block system (like Legos) that would be open source and free for others to download or base new designs off of. The alternatives developed will also be free from Lego's aggressive IP crusade.
The "OGEL" beyond the brick competition is a playful dig at Lego, which recently sent infringement notices to popular maker hubs like Cults and MyMiniFactory.
Lego will most certainly survive the OGEL competition but the fact it pursued an aggressive legal campaign alienating enthusiastic fans of its products suggests 3D printing technology may have been at least perceived as eating into Lego's profits or impeding future growth.
Without doubt technology like 3D printing, especially as it improves and is more widely adopted, will pose as a growing problem for companies like Lego who produce relatively easy products to replicate. Lego's instinct to attack rather than adapt is a mistake repeated by many companies who refuse to accept waves of change.
Technology Transforms Industry Dynamics
Before 3D printing, the Internet and file sharing transformed the media industry.
Movie studios and recording companies still claim to be making large profits after waging their own very aggressive legal wars and undergoing a painful, awkward transformation to adapt, but the fact is the Internet and file sharing has forever changed markets, consumer behavior, and the respective market shares of once prominent and uncontested media titans.
Tesla is voluntarily recalling 53,000 Model S and Model X electric vehicles because of problems with the parking brake. As was the case for Tesla’s last recall, the company is blaming someone else for the issue. Specifically, the electric parking brakes installed on the EVs “may contain a small gear that could have been manufactured improperly by our third-party supplier.”
It also notes that:
Quality control issues have plagued the young carmaker. Both the Wall Street Journal and Consumer Reports lambasted the Model X, and many electric motors in early Model S sedans appeared unable to last more than 60,000 miles.
What Ars Technica and other publications have failed to do, however, is put the Tesla recall into context. According to a 2016 U.S. News article titled, “The Biggest Car Recalls in History,” such context is provided.
Not only have other car manufacturers faced recalls many times larger (with millions of cars recalled at a time), the largest recall in automotive manufacturing history involved faulty parts used by multiple auto companies supplied by a third-party company, not unlike Tesla’s current recall.
U.S. News would report:
More than two dozen automakers were forced to recall close to 70 million vehicles in the biggest auto recall in U.S. history after receiving reports of a defect in airbags from Japanese supplier Takata. Honda recalled the most vehicles – more than six million – but Toyota, Fiat Chrysler, Nissan, Mazda, and others sent letters to owners while grappling with a supply shortage.
However, as Ars Technica pointed out, Tesla is a “young automaker,” while other companies have been established for decades, facing multiple gargantuan recalls in their respective histories, and still facing them regularly despite what many analysts have claimed Tesla lacks, “experience” with quality control.
January 29, 2017 (Tony Cartalucci - LocalOrg) - Geopolitical analyst, journalist, and activist James Corbett of the Corbett Report steps viewers through the real story behind India's recent, massive demonetization efforts - the story untold by prominent news agencies - and untold for a very good reason.
India's financial and economic shake up is a warning shot for the world - that the battle of financial technology to either liberate us all through decentralized peer-to-peer blockchain currencies, or render us under a centralized, global financial control grid ruled by a small circle of corporate-financier special interests is coming to a head.
For those to whom cryptocurrencies like BitCoin is a hobby, what has just transpired in India may provide the impetus to expand efforts to perfect and proliferate blockchain technology before cashless payment systems take over and displace all forms of currency, old and new.
For those who have yet to dig into cryptocurrencies or the details behind the emerging cashless global economy, Corbett's latest video is the perfect springboard into both.
LocalOrg seeks to explore local solutions to global problems by empowering people locally with education and technology to not only survive, but to thrive.
September 6, 2016 (LocalOrg) - Since the beginning of human civilization, money has taken one form or another. In modern times, currency has been effectively monopolized by financial institutions around the world. But with technology, is it possible to decentralize currency and put the power back into the hands of local communities?
James Corbett explores this issue with Ken Shishido of the Tokyo Bitcoin Meetup Group.
January 15, 2013 (LocalOrg - Tony Cartalucci) - Welcome to Open Source Ecology and their "Global Village Construction Set." Unlike many uses of the term "global," the concept behind OSE is not a centralized solution, but rather the leveraging of open source hardware on a localized level to achieve a "greater distribution of the means of production," with tools that would "last a lifetime, not designed for obsolescence." Below is the 2011 TED talk given by OSE founder and director, Marcin Jakubowski, who set out to prove that "industrial productivity can be achieved on a small scale," through the use of simple, DIY-built tools ranging from brick presses to tractors and beyond.
Ever
dream of a future free from the shackles of mindless mass-produced
consumerism? A future of complete freedom, instantaneous manufacturing,
and self-designed made-to-order one-of-a-kind goods? With additive
manufacturing, that future is now. Join us today on The Corbett Report
as we explore the 3D printing revolution.
What is Singularity University? by Tony Cartalucci
April 18, 2012 - A paradigm shift is coming that will change everything about the way people work, learn, and interact - it will be the beginning of a new age and the shape that age takes depends greatly on the number of informed people that take part in it and where they decide to steer it. Already, the top minds across a variety of industries are converging and preparing for the shift. One such group, an educational institute called "Singularity University" comprises of innovators, teachers, scientists, and engineers from both the private and public sector. Some could be considered elitists interested in consolidating power, others are truly forward thinking and interested in a better world for all of mankind.
Video: An introduction as to what "Singularity University" is. It is easy to pick out good and bad people, corporations, and agendas involved in Singularity University, it is much more difficult to determine what its overall agenda is. It may be possible, if average people became informed on a large scale, to steer its agenda toward what benefits humanity as a whole, rather than a handful of corporations.
....
The battle that will play out depends entirely on the general public becoming informed and active in the coming paradigm shift, guiding it toward a society of solidarity and progress rather than one of disparity between enslavement and superiority. Analyzing Singularity University's website and video productions, the impression is one of a multitude of ideas and directions - not a predetermined agenda, so far.
One concept that is omnipresent throughout Singularity University's activities is cutting edge technology and the possible implications it will have on society. This includes everything from 3D printing, robotics, artificial intelligence, and radical advances in genetics and biotechnology. The implications range from the ability for every individual on Earth to "print" at will any conceivable object they are able to obtain the blueprints for or design, to gene therapies capable of extending human life to centuries.
While the public is distracted with gritty political ploys, wars, and engineered destabilization, it is hoped that these emerging technologies can be meshed into the existing power structures and preserve the power of elites who have reigned over humanity for generations. Sabotaging education, ruining family and culture, and perpetuating the futile "rat race" also plays a role in keeping the vast majority of humanity out of the debate, and thus at a clear disadvantage.
Video: An amazing presentation given by Singularity University's Daniel Reda discusses the latest breakthroughs in biotechnology and bioinformatics. While some of these breakthroughs carry with them horrifying implications, they are only horrifying if the knowledge and techniques surrounding them remain monopolized in the hands of a select few. Just as many would argue against gun control and the dangers of an unarmed society subjected to the whims of a brutal dictatorship, the same could be said of a technologically and intellectually disarmed population as well.
....
Just like Europeans arriving on the shores of the New World - with vastly superior weapons and institutions to perform a campaign of full spectrum domination over natives that has endured ever since, the global elite of today hope to assume a position of vast superiority enabled by quantum leaps in technology while the rest of us, through ploys such as "environmentalism" and "sustainable living" increasingly disarm ourselves industrially and technologically. Polluting our priorities with political issues instead of pragmatism also widens the rift of disparity between the people and the ruling elite.
What many may find as a surprise however, is that not only are there members and guests of Singularity University that are aware of this, but many are very outspoken about this issue and insistent on the masses becoming engaged and participating in the coming paradigm shift.
One comment by entertainer William Adams (Will I Am), speaking as a guest at a Singularity University event, made the point that progress is moving at such a pace that those not involved in science and technology stand a very real danger of being left behind. Adams made the point that his reason for coming to Singularity University was to raise awareness of technological advances amongst people from the inner cities and inspire them to become engaged and involved directly. He also made the point that technology stands at a crossroads where it could either doom humanity or produce unthinkable benefits and pressed for caution as humanity moved forward.
Video: A panel featured at a Singularity University event featuring a wide range of views from a Hollywood monopolist, to entertainer William Adams, to techno-entrepreneur Elon Musk of SpaceX.
....
The points Adams brings up are indeed valid and in fact, the very root of the problem we now face - an ignorant population facing a profound paradigm shift that will leave them vulnerable to great exploitation should they fail to "catch up." This was a point famous astronomer Carl Sagan made during one of his last interviews where he too pointed out that civilization was increasingly built upon science and technology the vast majority of the population did not understand, and warned of the dangers that might result.
Video: One of the last interviews Carl Sagan gave, warning of the consequences of a technologically advanced civilization where the population is vastly ignorant of both science and technology.
....
Those dangers include the vast majority of decisions being monopolized by very few individuals, a scientific-dictatorship of sorts, that can manipulate, abuse, and exploit the ignorance of the population with devastating results. The future we live in, Sagan explained, will be determined by those who understand the principles our modern, scientific and technological society is built on. In essence, all of the "democratic" trappings any given society may have, or may pose to fight for, are irrelevant where proper education and understanding regarding pragmatism and technical subjects is lacking, sub-par, or worse yet, non-existent.
For a ruling elite who presumes dominion over mankind, providing such education is almost unthinkable. It is not something we will be able to ask our representatives to do for us, but something we must do for ourselves. No amount of "freedom" or "security" can be achieved unless we are fully informed, not simply in terms of history and the functioning of our chosen form of governance, but also in the essential subjects of science and technology that have inevitably achieved supremacy in the administration of human society.
Get Informed.
For the population to become informed - it would be best to follow those converging at Singularity University, and by following William Adams' advice, being cautious about the progress and achievements showcased there instead of blindly being caught up in the enthusiasm. The Internet is a vast resource available for anyone willing to take on the responsibility of becoming informed regarding these essential topics. Any word or concept mentioned during any of the talks featured on Singularity University's YouTube channel can easily be looked up and researched. TED Talks are another great resource for finding the very latest topics in science and technology to begin researching and understanding. TED represents another forum where both "good" and "bad" interests converge and compete in the court of opinion.
For those seeking more academic presentations, universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) or Berkley University provide "open course ware," or in other words, an entire series of lectures for free on both their own websites and on YouTube.
If one has the money or opportunity to take courses in a technical trade - this too would be highly recommended. The "service economy" and much of the current economic paradigm will be swept away as emerging technologies like 3D printing, personal manufacturing, and biotechnology comes of age. Entire supply chains and even the concept of "logistics" may be radically changed or even effectively ended when all someone has to do is hit a "print" button and an object is produced before their very eyes. Biotechnology has made it possible to create artificial genetic sequences capable of producing raw materials for anything from fuel to construction materials to spare body parts. The speed at which these technologies are being developed and implemented is increasing exponentially.
Video: Carl Bass, president and CEO of Autodesk, discusses the paradigm shift 3D printing is going to have as well as the convergence of disciplines and the need to vastly overhaul the way we approach education.
....
Becoming aware is the first step of getting involved. Even as just a part-time hobby it would be immensely beneficial to pursue something constructive, either machining, wood working, or studying in an amateur capacity any number of scientific fields. Another topic at Singularity University that is brought up time and time again is the fact that fields of research as well as occupations are beginning to converge. Just as our forefathers were jacks of many trades, technology is once again making it possible, even necessary to have a multitude of talents and pursuits as well as a wider range of knowledge to be productive and successful in society.
As mentioned before, it is essential that people understand the world around them, understand the role large multinational corporations play in maintaining the crippling disparity between themselves and an infinitely ignorant population, and the necessity to reverse this disparity before the paradigm shift unfolds.
We must boycott those corporations, institutions, and individuals that seek to dominate humanity, and support those that believe in a future we all will benefit from. We must be ever vigilant as technology emerges that we both understand it, its benefits and dangers, and examine with due diligence the best way to implement it within our changing society. We must examine, then reexamine the leaders in industry, their motivations and agenda, and help encourage them to do what is right, while penalizing them with boycotts and alternatives when they are demonstratively harming society.
The future is in the hands of whoever reaches out and grabs it. Right now, we as a population are distracted, our heads are down, our eyes fixed to only what is directly before us. The future, no matter how many times we "vote" and no matter how vigorously we "protest," is demonstratively not in our own hands. We must get informed, we must get pragmatically involved. We must look at what the top minds across industry and innovation are doing at Singularity University, who are preparing themselves for this convergence and acceleration, and likewise prepare ourselves, lest we find ourselves on the wrong divide of an infinitely vast disparity.
We each can decide the fate of humanity every single day. by Tony Cartalucci
"And our small planet, at this moment, here we face a critical branch-point in the history. What we do with our world, right now, will propagate down through the centuries and powerfully affect the destiny of our descendants. It is well within our power to destroy our civilization, and perhaps our species as well. If we capitulate to superstition, or greed, or stupidty we can plunge our world into a darkness deeper than time between the collapse of classical civilization and the Italian Renaissaince. But, we are also capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth, to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet. To enhance enormously our understanding of the Universe, and to carry us to the stars." -Carl Sagan, astronomer
Indeed, we teeter on a precipice upon which technology and human innovation will either free us from chains that have collectively bound us since the beginning of civilization, or enslave us within a global scientific dictatorship that will crush us so completely we will cease to even be human. They, the global elite know this, while the average person snickers and giggles at what is perhaps the greatest struggle with the most at stake ever in human history. As the global elite mobilize the summation of their power and wealth on a daily basis, many of us do nothing at all to assert ourselves or our claim to our own destiny. Worse yet, many of us witlessly pay into a system that seeks to supplant individual human sovereignty and achieve the ultimate culmination of megalomaniacal dominion over the human race.
A fear stalks the global elite however - the fear of inevitable technological breakthroughs slipping from their monopolistic grip and into the hands of the people. Technology like file sharing, blogging, open source software, and cheaper hardware have allowed the masses to challenge and in some ways dismantle the structure of domination the global elite are attempting to build over free humanity. Rules and regulations, bills like SOPA and PIPA, and other legal tactics attempt to stem the tide or indeed reverse it. In other ways, this "disruptive technology" is below the radar of most in both politics and throughout the public - but a potential battlefield the global elite are already preparing to fight upon.
One example, and perhaps the most profound, is that of advanced computer controlled manufacturing that is starting to appear on desktops around the world. An article on the globalist Lowy Institute's "Interpreter" notes the emergence of this technology in an article titled, "The replicator: Life imitates Star Trek," which concludes, "I don't think we yet have any idea of the disruptive capacity of such technology, for good and ill."
The implications are that the average person will be able to design and create their own goods and no longer depend on the crass consumerism that has characterized, aligned, and controlled society for the last several decades. Instead of having the TV tell people what they want, people could decide for themselves. And while we could collaborate globally, we would be able to decide locally how best to employ our time, energy, and resources to solve local problems. The blending of designers, manufacturers, and end-users would make collaboration and the erasing of the concept of "intellectual property" an inevitability. It would deconstruct walls standing in the way of progress like never before - as well as diminish both corporate profits and the unwarranted power these profits have granted corporations for generations.
And while computer-controlled manufacturing entering into the hands of the masses would bring a quantum leap to human progress, reducing material scarcity as the technology improved, none of this is being talked about in political or public circles beyond a handful of universities and enthusiasts who genuinely want what's best for humanity. In attempts to garner government support, many organizations are told specific rules exist that prevent governments or corporations from assisting projects that turn consumers into producers and thus opening the door to the personal manufacturing revolution.
It is a good bet that the upper echelons of the global elite are well aware of the impending personal manufacturing revolution - and would rather keep it silent. Concepts and predictions of "universal constructors" have been around since the 1940's. Even the most obedient and servile amongst the globalists' helping hands would see the value and allure of such a paradigm shift finally becoming reality and might be tempted to stray from servitude if such ideas became more mainstream. Keeping this quiet buys the elite time to put their global system in place, increase interdependency between people and nations as well as increasing dependency on their contrived international institutions - when technology already exists that make such global empires both unnecessary and entirely unpalatable.
Globalists through deindustrialization have made it more difficult to continue making advances in manufacturing technology that would normally trickle down to hobbyists and the general public. Perpetuating and celebrating ignorance and ineptitude amongst a population that now values pop stars and athletes more than those seeking to advance the frontiers of humanity has also served the global elite well in staving off this paradigm shift.
The wisdom of Carl Sagan yielded the observation that we live in a society constructed on science and technology, but where the public has little or no knowledge at all regarding either. So then who, Sagan asked, is determining the fate of humanity? The answer is simple, the corporate-oligarchies that hold a monopoly on science, technology, and engineering and who seek through rules and regulations to defend, consolidate, and expand further that monopoly. In many ways we already live under a scientific dictatorship.
We are faced with a series of decisions. Do we allow the petty, short-sighted self-serving corporate oligarchies to continue dominating society by our paying into their system on a daily basis? Will we allow corporate-funded think-tanks like the Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations to continue determining national policy for us, but on behalf of their corporate sponsors? Will we continue hoping for political leaders and political solutions to come and improve our lives for us like needy children? Or are we prepared to grow up as a civilization and take on these responsibilities for ourselves? Are we prepared to starve into extinction the antiquated elitist parasites that have misled us from one dark age to another, one war to the next, from one economic depression to even worse, and who have brought us to the edge of perhaps the most frightening abyss in human history?
Personal manufacturing is here, a paradigm shift of immense proportions stands before us. People around the world are already utilizing it to solve real world problems, as demonstrated by MIT's FabLab - and improves lives where politics have categorically failed. Society will continue to march forward with an expanding scientific and technological infrastructure. It is up to us and our will to get involved that will determine whether that infrastructure serves the elite or the people.
Above all others, Americans should be scientifically and technologically literate. The "bread and circus" of corporate-funded spectacles like the NFL, American Idol, and all the other pointless diversions that have absorbed our time and energy and even our own will to determine our destiny are like the ancient Sirens of Greek mythology guiding us into the rocks of our own destruction. It is time for us to determine whether we will command the direction of our own destiny, or if the cage the global elite have constructed around us incrementally is sufficiently comfortable enough to resign the destiny of humanity for.
For those interested in personal manufacturing, the above Interpreter article features the "Makerbot" designed and constructed by a collaborative workspace in New York City called "Resistor." America used to have a thriving DIY industry, with an abundance of clubs, organizations, contests, and publications. Today there is a resurgence - only this time augmented with technology like personal manufacturing that has immense implications that go beyond a constructive pastime.
It would be a good idea to connect with these people and add our talent, energy, and free time to something more constructive than vegetating on the couch behind the glow of the Fortune 500 TV programming that has lulled a great nation to sleep. The future is as bright as we make it - not through merely voting and protesting, but through the use of our two hands and to whom we choose to pay our money, time, and attention to. The fate of humanity is determined each and every day by how we choose to spend these personal commodities. Technology has reached a point of no return granting whoever wields it, control of human destiny well into the foreseeable future. Let's make sure it is we the people that are wielding it.
UN Sanctioning Sovereign Nations, We the People Sanctioning the Global Elite: Time to cut them off from humanity. editorial by Tony Cartalucci
The first step in destroying an entrenched enemy is to cut them off from the rest of the world. The globalists of NATO, the US, UK, France, Qatar, and others, have illustrated this principle in Libya on several levels. First they cut off the nation of Libya from the outside world, putting arms and trade embargoes on the Libyan government, blockading their shores, and seizing control of their airspace. As Benghazi's Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) terror brigades swept across the country under NATO cover, raping, murdering, and brutalizing all in their path, the globalists began organizing the surrounding and cutting off of individual Libyan cities, allowing (and assisting) rebels in cutting off food, medical supplies, cooking gas, electricity, and unimaginably even water, literally to starve the populations into submission. While the people of Libya have shown immense resolve against this strategy, it is only because of the incompetence of NATO and the lack of fortitude, character, or any desirable human quality amongst the rebels that this process of isolating and besieging the Libyan people has failed.
The absolute mockery the UN sanctioned NATO military intervention in Libya is making out of the contrived notion of "Responsibility to Protect (R2P)" is evident as civilians escaping from the Libyan city of Sirte accuse NATO of genocide, of bombing schools, hospitals, and homes and mass murdering innocent people. Additionally, under the cover of NATO, entire Libyan cities have been exterminated, with the population being rounded up, murdered or exiled and their property stolen. One such example, Tawarga, reported on by the Telegraph in their article, "Gaddafi's ghost town after the loyalists retreat," involved a town of 10,000 people whom the rebels said would never be allowed to return to their homes.
Americans during World War II were asked to stand against fascism in Europe and imperialism in East Asia, to intervene in the transgressions of Germany and Japan against the sovereignty of neighboring nations. In hindsight, the British and Americans were just as guilty at the time of grooming their own empires, but hypocrisy aside, rising to the occasion to stop the building of empire over free humanity is indeed a noble cause. Who then will rise to the occasion today, against the US, UK, France, Qatar, NATO's members and those backing the illegitimate UN, contrived International Criminal Court and other self-serving "international institutions" that are having their way with this planet? Who? And how?
It isn't just Libya that is in the cross-hairs. Afghanistan has suffered a decade of occupation and war at the hands of a banking, corporate-financier cartel who call themselves "globalists." Iraq too is suffering a proxy government beholden to invading foreign powers. The people of Uganda are literally being massacred so Anglo-American bankers can scoop up vast tracts of land to fuel yet another Ponzi economic scam, one based not on fiat currency, but even further-fetched "carbon credits." When one looks at the vast amount of resources at the disposal of the "globalists" they feel overwhelmed and not unexpectedly ask what can anyone do against such brazen, reckless disregard for human life, human sovereignty, and human rights?
The answer is staring us in the face every time we pick up the corporate-newspapers or flip on the corporate-news channels and here the word "sanctions." We the people must slap sanctions on the globalists, and it doesn't even require a UN mandate to do it. It simply involves identifying the corporations and institutions that are enabling the globalist agenda, systematically boycotting them, and eventually replacing them entirely on a local or regional level. There is nothing a multinational corporation can do that the modern nation-state can't, and in many cases, nothing multinationals can do that people can't do even on a local level. And as technology advances in both terms of information and manufacturing, this equation will only tip further in "we the people's" favor.
The ghouls of globalism have demonstrated without doubt their insincerity over their proclaimed goals of establishing an "international order" based on the rule of law, where "the rule of law" is applied to everyone but themselves, who brazenly, and consistently violate even their own contrived mandates, edicts, and resolutions when it suits them. In Libya, the "Responsibility to Protect" turned into targeted assassinations, regime change, and nation building (read: neo-imperialism) before UNSC r.1973 came back from the printers - a foregone conclusion 30 years in the making, spun only as "humanitarian intervention" for public consumption. Thus the globalists have demonstrated that they are incapable of lording over humanity with their "international order," and without doubt demonstrated the necessity of excising them and their ill-conceived notion of "global governance" entirely from society at all costs.
The globalists have procured this vast amount of impressive power only through our own complicity. We daily, monthly, yearly, and from generation to generation pay into the vast, ever expanding corporations that make up the global elite. We elect to shop at their stores, buy their products, use their services, exchange their currency and keep that currency in their banks. We elect to divert our time, energy, and attention to their corporate sponsored spectacles, be it on the race track, the football field, the basketball court or the baseball diamond. We are told that our nation's destiny is determined at the polls, and that the only way to effect real change is to choose from amongst several, bought off, corrupt, self-serving politicians, who needless to say, already serve the globalists, not the people. In reality, we vote everyday, with a vote far more effective and far reaching than anything that happens at election time. We vote with our purchases, our choice of how we spend our free time, and the way we utilize the resources we have at our disposal.
It would then reason, that by not paying into the globalists' corporations, institutions, and diverting ourselves with their distractions, we could begin repealing much of this unwarranted power they have accumulated. Eventually, we can begin replacing their corrupt, self-serving institutions that span the globe and presume dominion over all humanity, with local institutions that serve the people. It is not something that will be done overnight, it will take time. Even the globalists, with their endless power, must incrementally tighten their grip on their enemies, even ones as small as Libya. Surely everyone could easily do away with Coca-Cola and Pepsi today, as well as turning off the corporate-sponsored diversions on TV and on the sports fields. If we can't perhaps we don't deserve freedom or prosperity, but the mere, fleeting illusion of it we are afforded by our globalist overlords when it suits them. America's Founding Fathers would most likely be appalled at how modern day Americans have pawned off self-reliance, freedom, and independence for the illusion of security, convenience, and even entertainment. We need to stop looking for heroes to save us, and simply find ourselves a mirror. We are the key to our own salvation, as no one cares about our best interests more than we the people, our families, and our immediate communities.
Let us commit to putting "sanctions" on the globalists. Cut these degenerate megalomaniacs off from the world they so desire to dominate. Leave their stadiums empty, their airlines destitute, their checkpoints desolate, their corporate troughs filled with Chinese made slave goods virtual ghost towns, their banks as trusted and relied upon for economic activity as that game of monopoly collecting dust in the closet. Put them out of business, put them out of business forever. They have demonstrated without a shadow of a doubt that they, not some cave dwelling fundamentalist or Libyan colonel, are the greatest threat we as humanity face.
For a partial list of corporations that absolutely must be put out of business please see: "Naming Names." To see why even seemingly benign corporations like Pepsi and Coca-Cola are accomplices in the most egregious crimes against humanity, see: "Destroy the Globalists." For alternatives to the vast, globalist consumer paradigm, please see: "The Globalists' Worst Nightmare."
Transitioning from socialism to pragmatic, technological solutions. commentary by Tony Cartalucci
Building things, making things, technological and scientific progress moves forward the frontier of human knowledge and makes all that follows in its wake more accessible and affordable to the average person.
Bangkok, Thailand April 29, 2011 - Why is medical care subsidized by insurance schemes and socialism? The answer is quite obvious in that medical care requires highly trained practitioners and state-of-the-art technology to provide the absolute best care. Such trained practitioners and technology is of limited supply, in great demand and thus incredibly expensive to procure for the average person without financial assistance, be it from insurance schemes or socialist handouts.
However, perpetually subsidizing medical care will never address the underlying cause of its scarcity and in turn, its incredible price. Subsidizing is also unsustainable economically. It requires rationing and difficult "moral" decisions to be made regarding who receives what treatment. Such scenarios belittle both human dignity and the full potential of humanity in general.
Of course no one could seriously suggest people deserve to be denied medical care for the simple fact that they cannot afford it. The sad reality is that many people do not receive the best treatment available, subsidized or not, because neither they nor the state can afford it. So what is the answer? When is it ok to subsidize political solutions and what can be done to find permanent, pragmatic, technical solutions?
The answer is quite simple - perhaps so simple, especially when divorced from political ideology, it eludes understanding in today's political arena. Socialist handouts are tools. Like any tool they are only as good as the people using them. While the intentions of socialist medicine, welfare, education and so on seem noble, in reality they are primarily used by self-serving crooked politicians as bribes handed out in exchange for the voting public's servile dependency on a particular political agenda. Generations of voting blocs have been created using socialist handouts in just this fashion. Pragmatic solutions are never seriously pursued because pragmatic, permanent solutions - while alleviating entirely any particular social problem - would undermine the real purpose of the handouts, namely, building a dependent, servile voting bloc.
However, let us imagine socialist handouts for a particular social problem such as medical care applied in the context of a temporary stop-gap measure. While people are subsidized for care, the commitments are temporary and voluntary only to prevent people from dying without proper treatment. Meanwhile, investments are put into education and biomedical technology with specific benchmarks and time frames in mind. Simultaneously, barriers such as crippling "intellectual property rights" and monopolizing business practices are eliminated to allow real competition to flourish.
By increasing the supply of trained practitioners and biomedical engineers through improved education, and advancing biomedical technology past current levels of precarious scarcity the price for medical care will drop accordingly. With monopolies eliminated, real progress can be effected. If a particular company has a viable, affordable treatment for cancer, no established monopoly will be able to lobby Washington to regulate it out of business to protect their particular racket. Similar solutions could also easily be applied to the inadequate, antiquated, parasitic oil and car industries as well.
We should look around society today and take stock in industries and commodities we take for granted. We do not kill one another over the last chicken leg or leaf of lettuce nor do many people go without basic food. This is not because we have mastered subsidizing socialist handouts to feed our populations, rather we have developed agricultural technology that allows us to create an affordable market nearly anyone can benefit from under normal circumstances.
Likewise, medical technology and other essential industries can and must be advanced to where the market price is affordable to all. This will not happen with socialist handouts or monopolizing regulations in place. It will happen with improved education and healthy competition within the markets, where the only protection given is the rights of entrepreneurs big and small to pursue their trade without being hindered by monopolistic practices. In the meantime, it is sensible to transition away from total, permanent (and pandering) socialist solutions and move toward temporary stop-gaps until this is achieved.
Real, technical education in engineering, design, medicine, and other physical, world shaping trades should be re-prioritized over the degenerate fixation the West has for "administration" and "service sector" occupations. Economies still performing during the current economic depression including Germany, South Korea, and other nations that ply in real industry are proof of the merits of this argument. Engineering, design, and science is what advances the frontiers of human knowledge and makes all that follows in its wake more accessible and affordable to the average person.
Of course, another essential aspect of a fully functioning free market is a well informed consumer base. Without an informed consumer base, monopolistic regulations are easily put and kept in place. Failed business models can perpetually stay in business no matter how horrendously and consistently they fail their consumer base. The entwined relationship between big business and government is allowed to grow unchecked, perpetually to the detriment of the average person.
We can begin today to rectify this problem and begin our journey toward a more promising future by first turning off the crass entertainment that has intentionally lulled us into the ignorant, uninformed stupor within which these corporations operate with impunity. We can instead use our time to teach ourselves in areas where our public education has failed us and reignite our interest in shaping the world rather than watching it pass us by on the sofa. We need not wait for this paradigm to shift nationally. We can begin shifting it locally amongst proactive groups of vigilant, ambitious citizens. In many cases, such as organic farming and home school education, this is already being done. Ultimately if we want change, we must take the responsibility upon ourselves to make it happen pragmatically, not politically.
One Fat-Cat Corporation at a Time. by Tony Cartalucci
Bangkok, Thailand April 14, 2011 - We've told you who, in "Naming Names," now it's time to tell you how. Many may ask, "How exactly can we boycott the globalists when they control everything?"
The answer is by systematically boycotting and replacing them with local alternatives. You can actually start today, by boycotting corporations you may not have even considered part of this nefarious agenda and corporations you not only can certainly live without, but would be better off for it. It requires absolutely no money at all, in fact, it will save you money in the long run and if you decide to replace them, you may learn a valuable skill-set in the process.
Coke Idol and You: What is wrong with Coke, is everything that's wrong with America.
The focus will fall first on Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Two very similar corporations which populate both the Brookings Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations, unelected, extra-legal conglomerations that conspire and contrive world policy, world wars, and the means to implement them for the sole benefit of its corporate membership, entirely at your expense both in blood and treasure. (See: War is a Racket by Smedley Butler.) What's Wrong with Pepsi & Coke?
Conflict of Interest: Pepsi and Coke are both corporate members of the Brookings Institute, who for example, published "Which Path to Persia?," a 156 page report detailing methods to institute regime change in Iran. These methods range from foreign funded color revolutions and covert military operations, to arming terrorist groups (including MEK which has killed Americans) and all out invasion.
Even if you believe Iran represents a clear and present danger, wouldn't it be the job of our elected representatives to determine a course of action? Couldn't these "experts" be assembled into a committee under the watchful eyes of representatives elected by the people, even if they required a degree of secrecy? How does any functioning democratic society then tolerate a corporate funded organization comprised of unelected "experts" with absolutely no oversight and the ability to ultimately steer American policy? Because, indeed, much of what was written in "Which Path to Persia?" has already become a reality, without the consent, and in many cases, without the knowledge of the American people.
Another example comes from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), to which Pepsi and Coke are also both corporate members. Many of the reports coming from the CFR end up becoming public policy. Again, unelected businessmen, bankers, and policy wonks funded by corporate special interests steer American policy, including the myriad of laws, rules, regulations, and tax structures that protect megalithic monopolies like Pepsi and Coke.
You will find not only Pepsi and Coca-Cola as corporate members of these clandestine, meddling organizations, you will find their people sitting in as individual members as well. Just like JP Morgan during the robber baron age, these people end up running corporations not for their love of their trade, railroads and steel for Morgan, in Pepsi and Coke's case, bubbly beverages, but rather to exploit the immense amount of wealth they produce with their national and global monopolies.
These corporations rival the size and prosperity of some nation-states. Collectively, the Fortune 500, through their coordination via organizations like Brookings and the CFR, comprise a "dark nation" that exists beyond borders and the typical limitations of the traditional nation-state. However, technology has made it possible to live without most of these overgrown corporations, where local businesses can most certainly accomplish anything they can, sometimes more.
Certainly, however, in the case of beverages we as individuals and as communities are more than capable of creating, exchanging and enjoying beverages without any corporation involved at all. Why then do we insist on pooling our collective resources in their hands to give us flavored sugar water? Many would cite regulations and taxation that prohibit us from producing and selling locally, such regulations born from these immensely influential corporations in the first place. This is all the more reason to boycott them and put them out of business.
Your Health: Another reason to boycott Pepsi and Coca-Cola in particular is because everything they sell is horrible for your health. A look at their product lists shows us a parade of sugary, aspartame infested, preservative packed, chemically contrived-mercury laced HFCS dripping, salt encrusted garbage. Americans need not look but past their own waistline to see that they are literally slow-killing us. Of course, everyone and anyone is more than welcome to choose for themselves how they live but if you would like another reason to boycott these corporations, being better off with your health without them is certainly a good one.
Pepsi Product Lines
A full list with links to individual product line websites can be found here. Don't be fooled. Pepsi Co. doesn't just sell the tooth rotting cola drink of their namesake, they are also the purveyors of:
Drinks: AMP, Aquafina, Gatorade, Lipton, Starbucks Coffee, Tropicana, and many more. Food: Lay's, Doritos, Tositos, Cheetos, Fritos, Sun Chips, everything from Quaker Oats, Ruffles and many more.
Coca-Cola Product Lines
Frankly, the Coca-Cola list is too long to put on a single page. You can go to their website and see for yourself the extensive empire they have built, including brands that come from around the world. The full list can be found here. Below are only a few examples.
Conclusion
As you can see, almost everything you put in your mouth comes from these two corporations, and any exception to this most likely is in the form of another similar globalist conglomerate like Nestle, or bought from the globalist consumer troughs at Walmart (also a CFR corporate member.) The implications of these two, extraordinary lengthy lists of products that are found worldwide, gives us a real metric by which to measure the reach and depth this planet is infested with by corporate interests. It permeates nearly every aspect of our lives, and many unwitting souls entirely depend on them, and by doing so, are entirely at their mercy.
You may be tempted to throw your hands up at what seems like a futile task. But honestly, what your body really needs can always be found locally. Filtered water, locally grown produce, and homegrown garden vegetables most definitely would not only be better for you, but better for society. If you understand the gravity of what the above list represents, you must also understand that no excuse stands for continuing to fund these nefarious, expansive empires.
Coke and Pepsi and the products they peddle can certainly be done without. Nothing in the above list you require to live. Even bottled water, in the long run, is more expensive (economically and socially) than quality water filtration systems or atmospheric water generators (dehumidifiers with water filters built-in.) While ultimately we will need to break our dependence on corporations like Walmart, Target, and the big oil corporations, etc., starting by putting these two giants into their graves and replacing them with healthy, local alternatives is an excellent start.
Economic and financial expert Max Keiser breaks down the power of voting with your wallet.
This article was inspired by economic and financial expert Max Keiser who has for years tried to educate people about the power of smart consuming and how people can literally change the world one purchase at a time. This philosophy is can be applied with a little thought and effort to great effect.
Buy silver, crash JP Morgan, explained.
Keiser's latest campaign involves buying silver in order to crash globalist banking giant JP Morgan. JP Morgan has been issuing paper certificates representing silver they do not own (counterfeiting). Should people around the world (and they are) heed Keiser's call and force firms like JP Morgan to deliver silver they do not hold, they will "crash." By holding silver, an alternative form of currency to the globalist fiat dollar, you are also boycotting and replacing yet another facet of the globalist empire.
We will not dismantle and replace this system overnight, and we cannot do it individually, but by acting individually toward a life of greater self-sufficiency and independence we move collectively toward a freer and more prosperous future.
For ways to battle the globalists by achieving self-sufficiency and freedom through independence please read on:
