By Michael Krieger: One of my favorite lines about the current oligarch theft continuing to occur throughout the world is courtesy of the “Artist Taxi Driver,” who likes to state:
“This is not a recession its a robbery.”
Truer words were never said, but this theft goes back a lot further
than the latest economic catastrophe. As we all know by now, real median wages haven’t increased
in the U.S. for the past 45 years, while at the same time, so-called
economic growth according to traditional metrics has exploded higher. As
yesterday’s article from the Guardian below demonstrates, this is not
just an American problem. It is pervasive throughout the Western world.
So what happened? I think it’s best to put things in terms of Middle
Age feudalism, since the majority of the Western world has indeed
entered a modern type neo-serfdom. Essentially, think about this in
terms of a king in 1085 who just doubled the land under his control. At
the same time, his serfs are likely still tilling the same plots, and in
order to consolidate his holdings, the king might demand increased
tribute from his peasants. So the economy of the kingdom has doubled,
but the serf is worse off than before. This is more or less what has
happened to the West over the past several decades.