Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Justin Bonaparte on August 1, 2011 at 2:38pm

Jesus Christ, what a rant. Can't get through it.

Permalink Reply by Christina Marlowe on August 1, 2011 at 2:41pm

Okay, Justin.  I'll give you an excerpt of a response I wrote to a MF:

 

I'll tell you a real fact: the veritable "Roots" of American music--from the inception of the Black-American Blues, which seamlessly segued into Jazz, to Rock 'n' Roll, to Rhythm & Blues, to Disco, to Funk, to Hip Hop, to Rap and... right back straight home to the BLUES--ALL of it came directly, i.e. was started, by the Black-American, or African-American, SLAVES;  And that incredible, phenomenal, indelible BLACK-AMERICAN creation, talent, accomplishment, UTTER genius, WAS FIRST CONCEIVED in the second poorest state in the Union, Good Ole Mississippi.  The extraordinary Black American culture is richer than many others; and it has ENRICHED FAR MORE LIVES and in MANY MORE WAYS and in MUCH MORE POSITIVE WAYS than some corporation EVER could.  It's not about MONEY.  99% of the Mississippian musicians die totally penniless and often totally unknown.  I am not poor, nor am I black; I just do not weigh success on wealth, riches or material possessions, nor do I measure a person's value here on earth by a dollar amount.  Read some on it;  I think you'd maybe be FASCINATED and even ASTONISHED to learn that, no matter how much money you make, in the end, it is totally...well, INCIDENTAL;  Plus, you CANNOT take ANY of it with you...

Permalink Reply by DF Sparks on August 1, 2011 at 7:05pm

Im sorry but there are real life consequences to not having enough resources...to your health, to your ability to take care of your children. It's nice that music has come out of Mississippi that others enjoy, but the fact that that state has the worst stats when it comes to poverty, obesity, and education isn't something to be swept under the rug.

Permalink Reply by Christina Marlowe on August 1, 2011 at 8:46pm

Hello DF.  Thank you for the response.  Of course there are many horrible consequences of the outright neglect, the time-honored and sheer ignorance of the most pressing and underlying problems, and, of course,  the ever-present racism that still abounds.  I wrote the following letter to the Governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbor, addressing these concerns:

 

Subject: Message to Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour

Sir, February 3rd, 2009

You have a lot of nerve in your dogmatic ultra right-wing political stance in declining your state's share of the federal stimulus package.  Mississippi, for your information, is the second poorest state in the union and it's people desperately need help and leadership.  You, sir, are taking a despicable stand for nothing.  It was YOUR REPUBLICAN PARTY, SIR, that has brought this country, the United States of America, to it's knees.  People are SUFFERING.  And what do you do?!?  You sit on your high horse and refuse President Obama's recovery plan on so-called principle.  You are so far out of touch and I, along with countless others, wish to God you had not been elected.  The news is, in case you have not heard it yet, that Barack Obama, Democrat, has won a landslide victory against your evil, no-good tribe of Republicans.  Now maybe we can focus on bringing about the betterment of peoples' lives, um, including the people of YOUR state MISSISSIPPI...

Christina Marlowe

 

Permalink Reply by Sendero Rojo on August 5, 2011 at 2:45pm

There is a major contradiction in this piece. You say "Generation after generation, there is NOTHING to do BUT play & sing the Blues." and then go on to say "But, at the same time, only YOU are accountable for your ACTIONS," .. the former is a leftist analysis, the latter is the essence of right-wing/fascist thought.

No, Black people are not accountable for their actions, nor is anyone, but especially not Black people in America. -->System makes the people.<-- Blaming Black people for the situation they're in and their reactions to it represents a huge blind spot in the line you put forth here. If a child is locked in a room their entire life and given a beating every day, who do you blame if the child exhibits odd behaviors upon exiting the beating room? The "you're accountable for your actions" line says that you blame the child. Well the capitalist class (those who own the means of production: factories, farms etc..) have overwhelming control of one huge beating room and Black people have been trapped in the darkest corners of that room.

The telling question here is why is that ""Generation after generation, there is NOTHING to do BUT play & sing the Blues" when we live in a world that has long passed the ability to produce adequate food, clean water, shelter, and health care for all, yet see people dying all around from treatable conditions? Many things need to be unpacked and dug into in order to get at the root of the question in a scientific manner, but what is boils down to is that we live under the dictatorship of the capitalist class and no fundamental change for the better can happen until that dictatorship is defeated (and it will have nothing to do with the the capitalist $elections or the will of their $elcted spokespeople the capitalist politicians). I begin, and go a long way towards, revealing the nature of that dictatorship in a paper that I'm working on (pasted below) that speaks to several aspects of your piece here.

--

(incomplete rough draft, no title or proper intro yet)

Labor is the only thing that produces wealth. Over the centuries humanity’s labor has produced tremendous wealth, but due to the workings of the capitalist system that wealth is currently concentrated in the hands of a class of people who run a “democracy” theater show, but who actually rule over the world via dictatorship.

We live under the dictatorship of the capitalist class; failure to recognize that fact, which is necessarily coupled with a failure to properly understand the nature of the capitalist system, will guarantee that you cannot act to fundamentally change the world. Here I will dig into the various mechanisms that the capitalist class can use to maintain their dictatorship. This paper will be more about identifying the nature of the capitalist dictatorship, in the next paper I will talk more about how that dictatorship can and must be eliminated.

The dictatorship of the capitalist class flows from the fact that individuals are allowed to own the means to produce the goods that are required of us to survive. They control the flow and price of goods, and decide whether or not goods even get produced at all. As long as individuals are allowed to own the means of production then maintaining their dictatorship is just a matter of pushing buttons for them.

It’s helpful to look at some examples of ways in which people try to “regulate” the capitalists and how they fail to pose a threat to the capitalist dictatorship.

You constantly hear the liberals preaching about how we should raise taxes on the rich, increase minimum wage, better benefits for workers, etc.. They put forth these requests thinking that this will somehow help the common people, but the capitalist class just laughs at such things. If you raise taxes on the capitalist class they simply raise prices. There will never be a time when minimum wage is $20 an hour, but the costs for the goods that are required of us to survive remains the same. If you piss the capitalists off too bad they’ll just roll back production, roll back jobs, raise prices, move operations to other countries, etc.. until they either succeed in getting you to fully serve their interests or in creating such bad conditions in society that the common people turn against you.

So essentially what the liberals are doing when they request for the capitalist class to be taxed in one way or the other (higher taxes, minimum wage increase, better worker benefits, unions etc..) is begging them for money. It’s no different than the logic that a chattel slave should’ve just tried to talk the slaveowners out of their situations. Sure, talking to them about it might do a small amount of good on some level, but it’ll never fundamentally change the situation. Furthermore, talking to them will not be what forces them to toss us a few more crumbs. They toss crumbs when they feel that resistance is growing to their system in such a way as that it could affect their profits, or when they feel that tossing more crumbs will increase work productivity. Of course, sooner or later, these crumbs are just extracted from the common people in other ways as the capitalist vampires perfect their mechanisms to extract as much of our blood as they can without having us drop dead in mass or refusing to willfully produce more people in our social situation (those who own little to no means of production).

Many think they can regulate capitalism by voting out the bad capitalists and their $elected spokespeople the capitalist politicians. First, we don’t get to pick capitalists. Any capitalist who cannot or will not exploit the Earth and its inhabitants to the maximum degree possible will be pushed aside by one who can and will. Capitalists who are the most ruthless in their exploitation are rewarded with the ability to expand and to set prices, even to such an extent that they could take a loss in order to force competitors out.

Also, we don’t pick politicians under capitalism either. Capitalist politicians are $elected largely by those who’re the most ruthless in their exploitation of the Earth and its inhabitants, who’re also the ones who can afford to fund campaigns and the entire machinery that propagates and enforces the dominant rich White culture and methods of thinking throughout society. Capitalist $elections are simply an episode in their “democracy” theater show. No candidate who does not represent, at extreme least, their most fundamental interest, which is maintaining their ownership of the means of production, will never be $elected. Capitalist politicians are $elected based upon how well the capitalist class believes they will lead people to serve their interests.

Sometimes its in the interests of the capitalist class to $elect more “progressive” candidates. Such was the case when they realized that mass resistance was growing to them going full-steam ahead with empire-building, ergo they felt they needed to toss us some crumbs to calm us down, but they realized that just the thought of more crumbs was enough to squash enough resistance that they didn’t need to throw us any and could continue full-steam ahead in their mission to create an unchallengeable worldwide empire. Candidates like a Kuchinich, Nader, or McKinney (who do not represent the fundamental interests of the common people, but who do support policies that would make the capitalist class have to push a few more buttons in order to extract their fill of our blood) are deemed to be illegitimate and of course their campaigns won’t be funded by the big bucks. Furthermore, as I’ve spoken to, even if they were able to get $elected somehow they will be forced to serve the interests of the capitalist class or the capitalist class will create a “the sky is falling” atmosphere and succeed in rallying and strengthening their fascist base (Christian fascists, “proud to be an Americans” and generally those who’re under heavy influence of the rich White culture), which we see happening now even against the extremely small amount of crumbs that the Obama regime was talking about throwing to us.

It’s important to understand how the capitalist class uses their elevated $tatus to bring people to embrace the rich White culture of selfishness, exploitation, and destruction. They are able to maintain overwhelming control of everything that people look to when determining what is “normal” in society. We are social animals who do not wish to step so far away from “normal” so as to be shunned by those surrounding us and/or to risk our ability to secure our survival. Here in the US, by overwhelmingly controlling TV stations, newspapers, textbooks, etc.. the capitalist class can’t get everyone to want to be “normal,” but by playing on our natural fears as social animals they drag society in ways to serve their interests. Of course there are people who cast aside that fear and we sometimes call these people revolutionaries, and the capitalist class calls them terrorists.


(Next: on the role of the armed forces under command of the capitalist class and into how laws are shaped under capitalism)

Permalink Reply by Christina Marlowe on August 5, 2011 at 5:04pm

Thank you so much for taking the time to read, consider and share your thoughts and experiences with me. I truly appreciate it. And every single thing that you have written here is a fact and the TRUTH. I will respond with the following:

No matter WHAT vicious LIES have been spread around this godforsaken globe; no matter what EVIL CRUELTY, no matter what Ruinous and despicable and truly HORRIBLE acts have been perpetrated on OUR PEOPLE; Just KNOW this: "THEY," no matter who "THEY" happen to be; the white power structure; Whoever, whatever; they who dare to think that they truly, really have "CONTROL;" over ME, over YOU, over ANY ONE; THEY DO NOT; they do NOT "CONTROL" YOU and they most certainly do NOT "CONTROL" ME; the moment that you TRULY realize that in REALITY they have absolutely NO POWER, is when you LAUGH at their so-called POWER and you SEE how utterly STUPID and how utterly, well, RIDICULOUS they are. Do NOT for a SECOND fall for their JIVE...and JIVE is EXACTLY what they ARE. Now, when we begin to learn TRUTH, FACTS, when WE begin to learn and examine and KNOW OURSELVES and OUR HISTORY, you'll then KNOW that it is YOU that has the REAL POWER, not "THEM." And with this we ACT, armed with the TRUTH, KNOWLEDGE, POWER and a STRENGTH SO VAST and SO DEEP...that we begin to TRANSCEND everything that's ever been thrown our way.

I know for a FACT that YES, they can throw me in PRISON; They can put a BULLET in my HEAD. But they can't BREAK ME and they SHAN'T BREAK YOU, EITHER. They simply cannot do ANYTHING to me that would take my POWER away. In FACT, they can ALL KISS MY ASS.

I'll tell you and ANYONE ELSE on this EARTH as my advice and thoughts are always 1. FREE and 2. UNSOLICITED: When you transcend EVERYTHING, you transcend RACE, CULTURE, POVERTY, WEALTH--EVERYTHING. then and only then WE become ONE. I will stand up EVERY DAY HERE ON EARTH for the wretched and the doomed and the DOWNTRODDEN. ACTIONS ARE EVERYTHING. NONE of this, by the way, is about ME; indeed it is all about WE.

Let them have their stupid piles of worthless junk; I say directly to every last miserable one of THEM: take it all, you filthy morons, I don't want ANY of your filthy ill-gotten JUNK. That is NOT what LIFE is; LIFE is about doing the RIGHT thing and I'll tell you and every one else: I ALWAYS do the RIGHT thing; every moment, every day. I AM GOD. And, by the way, so are YOU.

I will FIGHT every last worthless and filthy motherfucker in the world for YOU, for ME, for WE. As Muhammad Ali said, as he well knows: ME. WE. THAT IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT...

Thank you. POWER.

Christ...ina

Permalink Reply by Sendero Rojo on August 5, 2011 at 8:30pm

The only way that you can escape being controlled by the capitalist class is if you’re rich enough to be able to own the means to produce everything that you need to survive (and ability to protect it from imperialists), otherwise you will be forced (to varying degrees) to act in their interests just to live.

During chattel slavery the slaveowners realized that they had to give slaves the minimum that it takes to secure their survival, ability to work, and willingness to produce more people in their social situation (those who own little to no means of production). Little has changed today except that the function of the literal whips have largely been replaced by the fact that the capitalist class has overwhelming control over everything that people look to when trying to determine what is “normal” in society. Controlling this mechanism allows them to play on our natural fears as social animals and on that basis they can drag society in ways to serve their interests…such as: making it be considered “normal” behavior to enter into an exploitative and degrading relationship with a capitalist for 8+ hours a day in order to secure your survival, that America is the “land of the free“, that the women-hating, slave-owning, genocidal barbarians who founded this country (err empire) were actually the good guys, that what we need is to go back to some mythical time when this country was “better” (aka the liberal delusion/faith called Jeffersonian Democracy) ... I could type many more examples of ways in which they get you to serve their interests just based on what you believe to be “normal” and true about the world, but seeing as I’m amongst atheists here just let your imagination wander with that a bit.

Further regarding your denial that we live under capitalist dictatorship- They don’t control your ability to get mad at the crimes of this system. They do control your ability to act in ways that would pose a serious threat to their dictatorship. The most advanced revolutionary force this country has ever seen, the Black Panther Party, learned what happens if you attempt to lead a movement that would pose a threat to their power, they were met with severe repression (that their leadership was unprepared to deal with), and nowhere ever, will the capitalist class just say “oh, here’s this movement talking about bring forth a new way, lets just hand them the keys and see how they do”, no, they will fight to the death for their “right” to exploit the earth and its inhabitants and so as long as they are enabled to own the means to produce the goods that people require to survive they will be enabled to win forces to their cause and against yours, and that’s not even mentioning that you have imperialists the world over who would love nothing other than to use the instability created as an excuse to send in the armed forces under their command to steal everything for them.

My position is far from defeatist, but until we realize the true nature of the monster we’re up against there is no possibility of ever escaping the dictatorship of the capitalist class. If we are to get to a better world the means of production have to be placed into common ownership. There is no regulating capitalism. The forces created by allowing individuals to own the means of production guarantee movement towards imperialism no matter what stage capitalism finds itself. Also, we can’t simply bonk the capitalist class over the head and crush their dictatorship only to leave the roots of capitalism intact, history has taught us that they grow right back. What is absolutely necessary for humanity be liberated is leadership with proper vision and a People’s Army under command of the common people. The BPP used to have armed patrols of the terrorists (err, the police) in order to deter acts of police brutality, planting of drugs, harassment etc.. and this was the precursors to a People’s Army, an armed force that shouldn’t have to exist and revolutionaries don‘t want to exist, but is absolutely necessary in order to stand any chance whatsoever of defeating the capitalist class dictatorship. There will be a time when we have to go to farms, factories, etc.. and tell the owners to give us the keys and GTF out (or grab a broom : ), that we’re now going to produce goods 100% for need at this facility rather than for your profits, and that will never be done unless you’re at least prepared to do so with armed force.

So, again I’m in now way being defeatist, but if you’re serious about changing the world you have to care enough to get scientific about it, and study the history of revolutionary movements against the capitalist system. We’re not the first ones to be mad enough to want to do something about changing the world. If we rise up simply to be crushed yet again then it’s best we don’t rise up at all. The next time we have a BPP on the scene, the next time we have this system rocked back on it’s heels, we must have leadership that will take the revolutionary movement where it needs to go for capitalism to be swept from the face of the earth.

Permalink Reply by Christina Marlowe on August 5, 2011 at 9:25pm

THANK YOU. You are 100% RIGHT and I am ON BOARD. This time, though, it may be too late. The whole human race just may be doomed and may have just run it's ruinous and rapacious course...

Here is an article for your consideration:


Features
Earth's systems in rapid decline
Overpopulation is causing huge losses in biodiversity, and 'protected areas' such as national parks aren't working.
Stephen Leahy Last Modified: 03 Aug 2011 09:13
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The Convention on Biological Diversity's 2010 conference in Nagoya, Japan agreed to put 17 per cent of land and 10 per cent of oceans on Earth under protection by 2020, but this may not stop the decline in biodiversity [EPA]
Protecting bits of nature here and there will not prevent humanity from losing our life support system. Even if areas dedicated to conserving plants, animals, and other species that provide Earth's life support system increased tenfold, it would not be enough without dealing with the big issues of the 21st century: population, overconsumption and inefficient resource use.

Without dealing with those big issues, humanity will need 27 planet Earths by 2050, a new study estimates.

The size and number of protected areas on land and sea has increased dramatically since the 1980s, now totaling over 100,000 in number and covering 17 million square kilometres of land and two million square kilometres of oceans, a new study reported Thursday.

Dealing with failure

But impressive as those numbers look, all indicators reveal species going extinct faster than ever before, despite all the additions of new parks, reserves and other conservation measures, according to the study published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.

"It is amazing to me that we haven't dealt with this failure of protected areas to slow biodiversity losses," said lead author Camilo Mora of University of Hawaii at Manoa.

"We were surprised the evidence from the past 30 years was so clear," Mora said.

The ability of protected areas to address the problem of biodiversity loss - the decline in diversity and numbers of all living species - has long been overestimated, the study reported. The reality is that most protected areas are not truly protected. Many are "paper parks", protected in name only. Up to 70 per cent of marine protected areas are paper parks, Mora said.

The study shows global expenditures on protected areas today are estimated at $6bn per year, and many areas are insufficiently funded for effective management. Effectively managing existing protected areas requires an estimated $24bn per year - four times the current expenditure.

False hopes

"Ongoing biodiversity loss and its consequences for humanity's welfare are of great concern and have prompted strong calls for expanding the use of protected areas as a remedy," said co-author Peter Sale, a marine biologist and assistant director of the United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health.

"Protected areas are a false hope in terms of preventing the loss of biodiversity," Sale said.

The authors based their study on existing literature and global data on human threats and biodiversity loss.

When asked about the 2010 global biodiversity protection agreement in Nagoya, Japan to put 17 per cent of land and 10 per cent of oceans on the planet under protection by 2020, Sale said it was "very unlikely those targets will be reached" due to conflicts between growing needs for food and other resources.

"Even if those targets were achieved, it is not going to stop the decline in biodiversity," he said.

One reason for this is "leakage". Fence off one forest and the logging pressure increases in another. Make one coral reef off limits to fishing and the fishing boats go the next reef.

Another reason protected areas aren't the answer is that fences or patrol boats can't keep out the impacts of pollution or climate change.

Finally, the pressures on the planet's resources are escalating so quickly that "the problem is running away from the solution", he said.

The loss of biodiversity is a major issue because it is humanity's only life-support system, delivering everything from food, to clean water and air, to recreation and tourism, to novel chemicals that drive our advanced civilisation, said Mora. Right now the dominant strategy to halt the loss of biodiversity is with protected areas.

"That's putting all our eggs in one basket," he said. "A major shift is needed to deal with the roots of the problem."

The ever-expanding footprint of humanity is the primary cause of global biodiversity loss. When the world's population was 5bn people in 1985, the amount of nature's resources being used or impacted became more than the planet could sustain indefinitely according to many estimates, said Mora.

The world population, currently at 7bn, is well beyond Earth's ability to sustain. By 2050, with a projected population of 10bn people and without a change in consumption patterns, the cumulative use of natural resources will amount to the productivity of up to 27 planet Earths, the study found.

Sustaining the current 7bn people on the planet requires a major shift in resource use. At present, the average US citizen's ecological footprint is about 10 hectares, while a Haitian's is less than one. The planet could sustain us if everyone's footprint averaged two hectares, Mora said.

If there are more people, then there are simply fewer resources available for everyone, so population control will be needed along the lines of "one child per woman", he said.

"I'm from Colombia, it blows my mind that some governments in the developing world pay women to have more children," he added.

Hardly anyone is focused on the pressing need for a major shift, said Sale.

"The awareness of the public about this is shockingly low," he noted. What is needed is for humanity as a mass to change direction, he said.

"But can we find the hook, the lever that's needed to make that happen?" Sale asked.

A version of this article first appeared on Inter Press Service news agency.

Permalink Reply by Christina Marlowe on August 5, 2011 at 9:30pm

How to Rule: (in this case, a nation)

1. Keep the overwhelming majority of the population focused on carefully-crafted delusions;

2. feed the population, constantly and consistently, outright lies and complete fabrications, all whilst totally convincing population, through any form of trickery, convince population to believe things that are simply NOT TRUE; LIES.

3. Use so-called buzz words (such as "God," "Guns"), while simultaneously using fear tactics ("communism," "fascism") in order to prop up or legitimize all conspired-confabulations;

4. No matter what, ADAMANTLY DENY ANY AND ALL FACTS; CONVINCE people that each of their now-strenuously-held "beliefs" (which actually, in reality, are delusions) convince them that their beliefs are TRUE, RIGHT, RATIONAL and WORTH FIGHTING FOR;

5. Blatantly pit separate groups of people against each other, heavily using all media, in order to keep each group insanely confused and belligerent with increasingly irrational fear, as they become more and more preoccupied with their delusions and self-righteousness;

6. Feed the fire: instill hugely inflated sense of rightness (self-righteousness) through wholly-manufactured "evidence;" this particularly useful form of trickery, by the way, is often found disguised as religion in which any one will do;

7. Merely repeat the words "GOD," "GUNS," etc. etc.


And, with that, the robber barons have their whole voting base: an utterly deluded and totally brainwashed population, busily fighting tooth and nail directly against themselves and against their own self-interests, liberally fed with deliberate and outright lies and wildly inflammatory rhetoric.

The good news, however, is that TRANSPARENT OPPRESSION is NEVER FOREVER. NOT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD...Even here in "FREEDOM-LOVING," "GOD-FEARING," [WAR-MONGERING, GUN-TOTING] AMERICA...

Christina Marlowe

Permalink Reply by Christina Marlowe on August 5, 2011 at 9:30pm

How to Start the REVOLUTION:

1. STOP paying ALL taxes: Local, State, Federal

2. STOP paying ALL bills: Electric, Gas, Credit Card, Mortgage, so-called health care insurance (SCAM of EPIC PROPORTIONS)

3. WITHDRAW ALL MONIES FROM BIG BANKS NOW; File for Bankruptcy EN MASSE

4. STOP EVERYTHING and MOVE RAUCOUSLY TO THE STREETS

WE MUST STOP THESE CRIMINALS...WE MUST ORGANIZE AND DO THIS ON THE LARGEST SCALE POSSIBLE. The ONLY thing these cretins in this veritable U.S. Kleptocracy, the hacks in our government as quislings to the corporations, is MONEY. WE MUST SPEAK IN THEIR LANGUAGE!! We MUST pull the plug on these WHORING SOCIOPATHS.

Permalink Reply by Christina Marlowe on August 5, 2011 at 9:32pm

KLEPTOCRACY DEFINED:


Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, from Ancient Greek: κλέπτης (thief) and κράτος (rule), is a term applied to a government subject to control fraud that takes advantage of governmental corruption to extend the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats), via the embezzlementof state funds at the expense of the wider population, sometimes without even the pretense of honest service. The term means "rule by thieves". Not an official form of government such as a democracy, republic, monarchy, or theocracy; a kleptocracy is rather a pejorative for a government perceived to have a particularly severe and systemic problem with the selfish misappropriation of public funds by those in power.
Contents [hide]
1 Characteristics
2 Effects
3 Examples
3.1 International ranking
3.2 Narcokleptocracy
4 Statement by the George W. Bush Administration
5 See also
6 References
[edit]Characteristics

Kleptocracies are generally associated with corrupt forms of authoritarian governments, particularly dictatorships, oligarchies, military juntas, or some other forms of autocratic andnepotist government in which no outside oversight is possible, due to the ability of the kleptocrat(s) to personally control both the supply of public funds and the means of determining their disbursal. Kleptocratic rulers typically treat their country's treasury as though it were their own personal bank account, spending the funds on luxury goods as they see fit. Many kleptocratic rulers also secretly transfer public funds into secret personal numbered bank accounts in foreign countries in order to provide them with continued luxury if/when they are eventually removed from power and forced to flee the country.
Kleptocracy is most common in third-world countries where the economy (often as a legacy of colonialism) is dominated by resource extraction. Such incomes constitute a form ofeconomic rent and are therefore easier to siphon off without causing the income itself to decrease (for example, due to capital flight as investors pull out to escape the high taxes levied by the kleptocrats).
An early phase of this is driven by tenderpreneur elites who seek to capture resources for personal benefit.[1]
[edit]Effects

The effects of a kleptocratic regime or government on a nation are typically adverse in regards to the faring of the state's economy, political affairs and civil rights. Kleptocracy in government often vitiates prospects of foreign investment and drastically weakens the domestic market and cross-border trade. As the kleptocracy normally embezzles money from its citizens by misusing funds derived from tax payments, or money laundering schemes, a kleptocratically structured political system tends to degrade nearly everyone's quality of life.
In addition, the money that kleptocrats steal is often taken from funds that were earmarked for public amenities, such as the building of hospitals, schools, roads, parks and the like - which has further adverse effects on the quality of life of the citizens living under a kleptocracy.[2] The quasi-oligarchy that results from a kleptocratic elite also subverts democracy (or any other political format the state is ostensibly under).[3]
[edit]Examples

[edit]International ranking
In early 2004, the anti-corruption Germany-based NGO Transparency International released a list of what it believes to be the ten most self-enriching leaders in recent years.[4]
In order of amount allegedly stolen (in USD), they are:
Former Indonesian President Suharto ($15 billion – $35 billion)
Former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos ($5 billion – $10 billion)
Former Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko ($5 billion)
Former Nigerian Head of State Sani Abacha ($2 billion – $5 billion)
Former PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat ($1 billion to $10 billion) (These numbers do not come from Transparency International) [5][6][7][8][9]
Former Yugoslav and Serbian President Slobodan Milošević ($1 billion)
Former Haitian President Jean-Claude Duvalier ($300 million – $800 million)
Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori ($600 million)
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko ($114 million – $200 million)
Former Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Alemán ($100 million)
Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada ($78 million – $80 million)
[edit]Narcokleptocracy
A narcokleptocracy is a society ruled by "thieves" involved in the trade of narcotics.
The term has its origin in a report prepared by a subcommittee of the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.[10] The term was used specifically to describe the regime of Manuel Noriega in Panama.
[edit]Statement by the George W. Bush Administration


This section has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality.
Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (March 2011)
In 2006, the Bush Administration, consistent with promises made at the prior G8 Summit, enunciated a policy specifically intended to internationalize an effort to resist, pursue, and prosecute kleptocracies.[11] The White House stated intended commitments to: denying safe haven, bringing together major financial centers vulnerable to exploitation in order to develop preventive anti-corruption practices, enhance international information sharing on corrupt officials, uncover, seize, and return stolen funds and prosecute those criminals involved, and ensure greater multilateral action in helping to develop and repair those areas of the world stricken by high-level corruption.[12]


AND WITH THAT:

Decade after decade, rampant and blatant high crimes among elected government officials and among the uber-wealthy whom run large corporations, continue to grow worse and worse here in America. As I look 0n in utter disbelief, as political events unfold both here in America and around the world, a rather clear pattern emerges: Not one of these political and/or corporate powerhouses is EVER prosecuted for breaking ANY laws, whether U.S. laws or international laws. And make no mistake, these laws that these apparent "untouchables" brazenly, cavalierly and CONSTANTLY break, are very, very serious laws; Laws for which WE OURSELVES would go to jail. Fraud, scheme to defraud, elder abuse, profiteering, WAR CRIMES; the list goes on forever. Again and again, year after year, I see these filthy bastards breaking every single law on ANY and EVERY book, and STILL not ONE of them is EVER held accountable!! FOR ANYTHING!! One of the most glaring and recent examples without a doubt is the Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Rove, WAR in Iraq. And, of course, all the other clansmen that get away with MURDER. Not only is this incredible; it is also unforgivable. OBAMA IS THE SAME. I also see that NONE of the CORPORATE-OWNED media/press follows through on ANY of it. The U.S. Department of Justice, along with any other law enforcement agency, do absolutely NOTHING; it's all a JOKE. In fact, ALL of these CRIMINALS get FULL ASYLUM here in America. Just Remember: It was Obama that clearly stated that he would not get involved in prosecutions of (war) crimes; He said, "I want to look forward, not go backward." Well, I say to him, I want to move forward by upholding U.S and the world's laws. If we continue to totally ignore crimes and the criminals, it only gives both the criminals and the would-be criminals license to behave as if they're above the law. And that is exactly how they conduct themselves. Indeed this is a travesty. I now say directly to Obama (et al): FUCK YOU and FUCK THIS ENTIRE GOVERNMENT. In fact, FUCK EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU PEOPLE!!

Irately,

Christina Marlowe

Permalink Reply by Christina Marlowe on August 5, 2011 at 9:34pm

I know that I am seen, whether largely or minutely, for that matter, as a subversive. I am indeed a subversive. This whole unconscious and wholly unconscionable system, also known as capitalism, is in the greatest peril that I have ever witnessed in my life's time and even in modern history; Like in an Upton Sinclair piece; it--capitalism, that is, is just self-destructing before my very eyes; this whole place, this whole godforsaken place, also known as the United States of America (which has been ultimately over-reaching it's filthy, greedy, witless and shortsighted tentacles all over the rest of a very unfortunate and poisoned world), this country of ours is doing a literal nosedive, going down in flames, and people are running around like fucking chickens with their heads cut off. I do indeed feel as though I am a character living in a Kafka or George Orwell book. I'll just mind my own business, that's all. After all, I have no regard, utterly none at all, for brainless, gutless and blithering, blind stupidity--as that is just what I personally witness in each of my waking moments on earth ever-increasingly). I suppose that life itself is a bit like a pinball game: exhilaratingly dull right up to the non-climatic end...or, if you prefer, right up to the nadir. The lowest point that the human race has ever dug itself into a stupid and twisted, self-created mess that now we're all in...together; like in hell, (you know, Sartre's conclusion in his book, Huis Clos, which, incidentally, means "no exit;" and his ultimate conclusion was that "hell" is really other people...all I see nowadays is a bunch of cheaply-made (probably Chinese) junk. Rotting piles of useless plastic spider rings and ridiculous mounds of cheap plastic water bottles: no class, no backbone, no guts, and most glaringly, no brains. How can I possibly express how much contempt I have for all these stupid-like-a-two-year-old, idiotic-to-the-point-of-sheer -lunacy, abjectly unconscious morons that are cluttering up my atmosphere. In fact, I do conclude, on my very own observations, that people, not just here in good ole America, but all humans on this earth, nowadays, are just like vivid nightmares that never really disappear for good. The Republican party's whole agenda is based on pure, unbridled and blatant racism and bigotry along with this shockingly myopic greed; the black, the hispanic, the gay Republicans are all nothing but soiled and filthy instruments, tools, patsies, that have sold their very own souls to the Devil, for that stupid, vile and ignorant political party. The Democrats, on the other hand, are just useless.

As always,

Cheers,

Christina Marlowe