"Some even believe we (the Rockefeller family) are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists' and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure-one world, if you will.
If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.
"--David Rockefeller, Memoirs, page 405 CNN September 21 Breaking News! According to a group of economists, the recession officially ended June 2009.
In a speech the same day President Obama remarked that life still remained tough for millions of Americans at this stage of recovery.
Yes about families and no on the recovery.
Official pronouncements of national economic wellness conveniently measure success by the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) minus acknowledgment of the destabilizing effect trillions of dollars of debt has on the economy.
If money were not the product of a private-fractional-reserve monopoly, economic recovery might indeed be possible.
Given our virtually bankrupt economy, its problems far exceed the simplistic explanation of another round of the boom/bust business cycle.
Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, spoke truth in his recent essay, The Tortoise Economy: "The underlying problem is structural, not cyclical.
There will be no return to normal because normal got us into the hole in the first place.
And the normal kind of prescriptions can't possibly get us out.
Until the economy is restructured so more Americans share in its gains, the economy won't make many gains.
We'll be forever trying to scale a wall that can't be, because the vast majority of Americans lack the purchasing power to move upward.
" Though readers and clients alike have heard me beat this same drum for nearly a decade, I do appreciate the credibility people like Robert Reich bring to my heretofore voice in the wilderness.
Maybe such mainstream voices will help "the vast majority of Americans" dispel any last remnants of denial.
To expect recent financial-sector regulations to lead to recovery (giving the Fed new powers) is to expect blood from a stone.
Nothing short of retiring and replacing a central-banking-war-machine system can get the job done.
Yet to retool the current dysfunctional system into a functional one will come at a price.
Not only would most people's lifestyles and comfort zones be disturbed at least in the short-term, but also those at the top of the pyramidwho extract endless wealth from the rest of us via interest payments would probably lose the legal right to do so.
For these two reasons alone we'll get more "rearranging of the chairs on the deck of the Titanic" until "we the people" mount a loud and unrelenting campaign.
With political will, the best of the alternate systems (now on the shelf) could be implemented.
The shape of things to come:Welcome to the new normal! In my humble opinion, I believe that any official pronouncement of "economic recovery" will be something else entirely.
Normal expectations of sufficient work, disposable earning, disposable time, a good car and one's ability to pay the bills, stay out of debt and live without major stress fade into ancient memory as issues of survival take front and center.
The new normal will be played out on a new game board with an expanded set of rules.
"Economic recovery will actually be the acceptance of this lower standard of living and brought to us by the same folks that got us into this mess in the first place.
The recession has provided the financial sector a necessary time of transition to put the finishing touches on the automation of all its systems, worldwide.
Make no mistake, these casino economy upgrades (where 'the "house always wins") are designed to further ensure payment transactions from your account to theirs.
The completion of this transition will be quietly marked by a fully functional digital-money-only system (i.
e.
cashless society).
Airlines have already begun as noted last time I flew when cash could no longer be used for food, drinks or movies.
Is The Truman Show predictive programming? What comes to mind is the movie The Truman Show with Jim Carrey.
The everyday life for those in The Truman Show happens perfectly and predictably on schedule because all their choices are controlled.
Residents live day after day on a surveilled-formulaic grid that, by design, limits what they can think, say and do.
I highly recommend it.
If The Truman Show does, in fact, give us a sneak preview, perhaps it might also "give pause" to those who depend exclusively on existing systems.
The financial system in particular has rendered most people to become passive and to believe whatever they are told about money and whom to trust.
This brings me to the good news.
Recovery is still 100% possible!! The bad news is that recovery won't happen any time soon by tweaking the existing system and, genuine recovery will require personal effort.
Outside the new-normal box, self-determination and pro-activity are what can make the difference.
Time is of the essence.
Once we release total dependency on the system, passivity transforms into action steps if to recapture and sustain the quality of our lives.
Contrary to dictates of consumer society, long-term financial well-being rests atop the intangible foundation of wealth: Personal and spiritual well-being.
When we discern and unlearn these expectations perpetuated by society, families and peer groups, we strengthen our ability to choose wisely.
Increased awareness empowers us to do whatever it takes to live within our means and adopt strategies that reverse debt and its consequences.
Though the way out does go against the flow of mainstream group-think, the rewards of a life committed to quality and not quantity become self-evident over time.