The end of “Extraction Capitalism”

Don’t get me wrong. I believe in regulated capitalism as a means of betterment for all. However, “Extraction Capitalism” is a means of betterment of the few at the expense of the many.

There is an evident fact that the mining and other “extraction” industries move away when the mineral resources is depleted.

But where do extraction capitalists go when they have wrung the last cent out of the many? They become extinct!

Let me step back and define “extraction capitalism”. Extraction capitalism is not about making products, or improving society, or about making jobs. Its not even about making money. Its about moving wealth from one class of citizens to another. In our present case its about extracting wealth from the poor, the working poor, and the former middle class. The “extracted” wealth is then moved to the media/governing/banking class. I do not use that class term lightly. The media class is dependent on the governing  class for something to do  and the governing class is dependent on the banking class for financing its survival..

How does the media/government/banking class reallocate your wealth. Its simple, every time there is a monetary transaction on the planet the banks “extract” a share of the transaction. Because the banks “extract” a fee from your grocery store for credit card and debit transaction, all groceries are more expensive. The banks “extracts” wealth from you when you buy groceries. They extract wealth  from you whenever you buy goods and services. They extract wealth from you when your put money in even the safest “savings” accounts. They extract wealth if you invest in stocks and bonds. They extract wealth from you when the government “borrows” money to keep the media/governing/banking class operating.  I even pay a fee to pay my taxes with a credit card.

How can it be that the banks had their best year ever last year, when everyone on Main Street “lost” a significant segment of their wealth. Most of your wealth was not “lost” it was transferred to the media/government/banking class,

I watch the “Tea Party” movement and on TV, they are mostly middle aged and older and white, and I ask myself, how  much of their wealth are they willing to give to Fox News, Sarah Palin and their bankers before they realize that the “other  side”-the bad guys, the young and diverse are in the same peril of giving their wealth to the same media/government/banking class from the opposite direction. Either way the wealth, has been, and continues to move away from Main Street.

The bright side is that, like all “extraction” industries, extraction capitalism will just go away when the resource has been depleted. So when the money is gone from Main Street and there is no where for the “extraction” capitalist to look for wealth, the “Tea Party” members and the “Left Wing Socialists” on Main Street might just have to sit down together and figure out where we would like “capitalism” to go in the future.

Healthcare and Weekly RATS. We are now officially part of the way there.

Having recently returned from a vacation, without television or regular news, I need to get back into the swing of things.

Sunday brought us a good way towards some rational national health insurance system. The rest of the world laughs at us: “How can you have small business women and men making jobs when their jobs come with crappy pay and no healthcare”.

As much as the conservative insist the end is nigh, and socialism is run amok, this country needs some social purchases. As rugged independent individuals, we have been unable to build a system that cares for the sick, aged and dying. To build a good system for that, we will act together, much like Medicare and Social Security. yes it will take taxes, but we are among the least taxed people in the world and we get what we pay for.

Any way, the world as we know it is not coming to an end, and we will explore health insurance for at least a generation before we get it right.

Here comes “Weekly Rats”.  All is not good on Main Street in my town. A local roadside motel is advertising "weekly rats".

I can’t be sure if that’s a benefit, or an offer to reduce rates to meet the lousy prospects on our Main Street.

I can tell you, on our main street , jobs are still being lost, wages are being reduced and we are resetting how we go about living the “good life”

“Living the Good Life”

Seventy-eight years ago Helen and Scott Nearing left New York and moved to a farm in Vermont. The Nearings left the city for political and social reasons during the height of the “great depression”. They were seeking a simpler life.

Here is a quote from “The  Good Life”. My how things have not changed a whit in over 3/4 of a century.

…. demonstrating one possibility of living sanely in a troubled world. The ideal answer to this problem seemed to be an independent economy which would require only a small capital outlay, could operate at low overhead costs, would yield a modest living in exchanged for half –time work, and therefore would leave half the year for research, reading, writing and speaking.

Sounds good to me.

I remember in the early 1970’ listening to a speech by Scott who spoke while Helen sat on stage knitting. I can’t remember if she sat in a  rocking chair or not, but she was definitely knitting.

Scott had to be at  least 90 years old then; he lived to one hundred years. Helen lived a shorter  life passing away in her 90th year.

The Nearing’s were perfect for the 60’s as the gurus of “back to the land”, but they were really not about abandoning the world. They were about eliminating the…. obstacles to a simple quiet life-complexity, tension, strain, artificiality, and heavy overhead costs.

I highly suggest you pick up a copy of  “The Good Life”. I don’t suggest you quit your job and move back to the farm, but you might just find something here that helps you simplify, and the Post Consumerism blogger is all about simplifying.

"Survivor Island, The Hamptons" Sales of $1M plus homes down by 55% from July 2005 in California!.

Maybe a Million Dollars IS what it used to be.  Check out these stats on home sales in the Hamptons.

According to MDA Dataquick sales of million dollar plus homes in California in 2008 was less than half number of 2007 (55% less) and 30% less than in 2004. My guess is that the year 2009 will see even fewer Macmansion sales.

If California leads the country in millionaires then the rest of the nation will see the same shift.

From: LuxuryBrokers   Listed at $19.5 Million (not for the faint of heart)

This leads us to a obvious question: if there are many fewer folks buying (or able to buy) these Macmansions, what happens to them when the banks own them through foreclosures.

A few suggestions:

• The bank owning them should present them as bonuses to executives. The banks can then recover any loss by listing them at the foreclosed amount (not the market amount) to the recipient
• Turn them into lavish branch banks to serve the currently wealthy in the neighborhood. No problem knowing who still has wealth, check to see if the taxes are paid to date.
• Convert them into company housing. This was common practice in the 19th and early 20th centuries. No reason to reinvent the wheel. Offer company script again instead of wages and let tellers and clerks rent the space. (Add vending machines and charge for other amenity use like the pool or sauna.
• Convert them to private hospitals for those with cash or select health insurance carriers. This will cut down on commuting time for Dr's. if the macmansion has a golf course just page her in.
• Ask ACORN to convert select mansions to brothels. Pay off the local law enforcers with sweet deals on other homes in the new "hood".
• Turn them into luxury hotels, resorts, retreats. This is already being done. A colleague stayed at a WAMU (former bank) macmansion that was used for bank executives and is now open to other private companies for rentals.
• Deconstruct them and use the salvaged materials to build entire villages in developing countries. This will create construction jobs (sort of) in the US and abroad. If we get ahead of the curve on this new industry, we can send contractors to Russia and China to do the same, but the salvaged materials will stay in those countries for low income development.
• Downsized shopping malls for those left with purchasing power. With less buying, retailers will need less floor space, a 50,000 SF macmansion/mall, with pool and valet parking might be more economical than a 2 million SF mall in the suburbs.
• With NO apologies to Mark Sanford, let politicians use them as free-trade zones for importing their Argentine mistresses without fear of the paparazzi. They are in gated communities usually, aren't they?. This way our tax dollars stay in the U.S.
• Convert select gated communities to public parks. Eventually the lack of taxpayer concern will cause the macmansions to become derelict eyesores and crack houses. Then burn them down and let the grounds return to forest (reducing green house gasses and slowing climate change). This is the current method if deaquiring parks buildings in California.
• MY FAVORITE: More reality shows. "Survivor Island-The Hamptons" where contestants have tribal council around the indoor fireplace and contests take place in the "game room". Maybe now is the time for the ''New Beverly Hillbillies". This was potential reality show that was deemed to be in too poor taste a few years back. Let's take another look at it after "Tool Academy" has been aired.
• Suggestions Please?