repost from iflizwerequeen

Both parties support the Milton Friedman economic ideology which is known by some as “conservative economic neo-liberalism.” It is an economic ideology that only works for the upper 20%.  The rest of us who work for a living get the “jobless recovery.”

What these rich bastards in Washington–including the President and 95% of both houses of Congress– don’t seem to realize is that eventually, this economic ideology that results in a government which looks more like a multilevel marketing scheme than a Democratic  representation of the majority, will eventually do them in as well.  It will take longer, but eventually the top 3% will have all the marbles.  The meltdown has begun and the only way to stop it is to address the root cause which is the broken economic ideology that has been driving our nation into the ditch for the past 30+ years.

The only question that remains is how far down does the majority have to sink before we start the revolution because those who think that the rich are giving up their wealth and power without a bloodbath are mistaken

#1  THE RULE OF THE MARKET. Liberating “free” enterprise or private enterprise from any bonds imposed by the government (the state) no matter how much social damage this causes. Greater openness to international trade and investment, as in NAFTA. Reduce wages by de-unionizing workers and eliminating workers’ rights that had been won over many years of struggle. No more price controls. All in all, total freedom of movement for capital, goods and services. To convince us this is good for us, they say “an unregulated market is the best way to increase economic growth, which will ultimately benefit everyone.” It’s like Reagan’s “supply-side” and “trickle-down” economics — but somehow the wealth didn’t trickle down very much.

#2 CUTTING PUBLIC EXPENDITURE FOR SOCIAL SERVICES like education and health care. REDUCING THE SAFETY-NET FOR THE POOR, and even maintenance of roads, bridges, water supply — again in the name of reducing government’s role. Of course, they don’t oppose government subsidies and tax benefits for business.

#3 DEREGULATION. Reduce government regulation of everything that could diminish profits, including protecting the environment and safety on the job.

#4 PRIVATIZATION. Sell state-owned enterprises, goods and services to private investors. This includes banks, key industries, railroads, toll highways, electricity, schools, hospitals and even fresh water. Although usually done in the name of greater efficiency, which is often needed, privatization has mainly had the effect of concentrating wealth even more in a few hands and making the public pay even more for its needs.

#5 ELIMINATING THE CONCEPT OF “THE PUBLIC GOOD” or “COMMUNITY”and replacing it with “individual responsibility.” Pressuring the poorest people in a society to find solutions to their lack of health care, education and social security all by themselves — then blaming them, if they fail, as “lazy.”

Around the world, neo-liberalism has been imposed by powerful financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. It is raging all over Latin America. The first clear example of neo-liberalism at work came in Chile (with thanks to University of Chicago economist Milton Friedman), after the CIA-supported coup against the popularly elected Allende regime in 1973. Other countries followed, with some of the worst effects in Mexico where wages declined 40 to 50% in the first year of NAFTA while the cost of living rose by 80%