Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 12:04:57 +1100
From: hbone <hbone-AT-optonline.net>
Subject: Re: Another God that Failed


Eric/All

Some have said:  "God isn't dead, just looking for a better job".

There is a new, very long, but well made documentary on Public TV called
"Commanding Heightss"

The series glorifies the God of Free Markets with nearly 6 hours of
passionate propaganda, including much excellent historical footage
demonstrating how his Spirit worked wonders in the U.K., Chile, Poland,
Bolivia, Russia, India and other places in need of divine economic guidance.

It showers much praise on Saints and Prophets of this new firmanent.  They
include theological  experts Milton Freedman and Jeffrey Sachs, and public
movers and shakers:  Thatcher, Reagan, Walesa and others.

I had heard of Dr. Jeffrey Sachs before, but didn't know he is the head of
the Center for International Development at Harvard.

Enter his name in a Google search and you find the Center's home page which
includes the following statement:

"The world is unequal in material conditions as never before. Sixteen
percent of the world, in the high-income countries, enjoy an average income
of $25,000 per person. Eighty-four percent of humanity struggle for survival
with market incomes averaging $1,100 per person. One and a half billion
people live on less than $365 per year, or one dollar per day. And the gulf
is widening."

If you believe "Commanding Heights", the God of Free Markets is the cure,
not the
cause of the world's misery.

I would like to see one-hour documentaries of equal quality on:

1) World disarmament,
2)  Methods of making World Peace.
3)  How stock market manipulation transfers wealth from workers to
manipulators.
4)  Making the CPA industry accountable.
5)  An expose' of the profits and practices of HMO's, all of them.
6)  Restoring democracy to the U.S. by breaking two-party control of
national
campaigns, and persuading two-thirds of eligible citizens to vote.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eric wrote:

> For me, I think the year 2001 will be seen as a pivotal one and not just
> for 9/11.  It was also the year an America president was selected, there
> were demonstrations in Genoa, Enron went bust, the Israeli-Palestinian war
> occurred and so on.  Not least, it was the year Empire received a
> considerable amount of attention.
>
> For me, what 2001 represents was the year an idea died. For the past
twenty
> years, neoliberalism  or laissez-faire capitalism had an almost religious
> attraction for its devotees. Like any creed,it demanded only that one
> believe a few simplistic dogmas and everything would take care of itself.
> For those who believed, the world's best and only hope lay in the
expansion
> of capitalist 'free' markets. To think there were any other issues
involved
> was merely to exercise self-delusion. As Margaret Thatcher once famously
> put it: "There is no alternative."

>