[mark]

Have you ever wondered what the elites think of the rest of us? I'm sure the topic rarely comes us among the monied class, but there must be occasional bouts of reflection when even the most cold-hearted utters a few words about us common folk. Do you think they care? When the bankers get together in the Hamptons does class difference ever burst forth like a popped pimple? I've thought about this a little after taking Catherine Austin Fitts suggestion to view the television series of a few years back, La Femme Nikita. She says it's a good window into the world of black ops, especially for the weapons and tactics. Well yes, all that whizz bang gadgetry is cool but I've taken a bit more from it than that.

In some ways I think they may envy us. You see, we don't really know. Oh sure, we can suspect, we have our suspicions, but we're not on the inside, we don't actually know. Well, at least I don't, I can understand some of you who do actually claim to know; I envy your certainty. Most of us go about our mostly normal lives little understanding what goes on in the deep, dark of the real world. People must do things that would cause us to recoil in horror. But, they do it. People die in most unfortunate ways but the game goes on. They play it willingly, all the while slightly envious of our ignorance, for what they know can never be told. But the game grows old eventually and they come to hate our ignorance and then to hate us for being ignorant. That's when things get messy for all of us and for “them.”

They will eventually hate us. And when that stage rolls around, very bad things can happen to normal, everyday people. They are no longer our protectors, willing to do those dark, evil deeds that keep them up at night. And the hate grows, and the jealously swells, and it's no longer for God and country, it all gets twisted around until the evil gets turned inward. Then, the game changes and we begin to know and then the darkness fills us too. Evil consumes us all in the end.

And then, a new game begins. Lets hope the new players have learned something from those so soon departed.

[joeltrout]

Thanks for the positive words of encouragment.

joeltrout

[Jack]

Affluence is not a binary condition; rather, there is a continuum of values.

A is rich compared to B. B is rich compared to C. And so on.

You and I are rich compared to some. Do we speak of them? Do we care about them? Do we envy them?

In my case, they are irrelevant in most cases. Those I come into contact with are either "useful" (hence good) or "not useful" (hence bad). But although I may act as if I care about how they feel, the bottom line is, they are no more (or less) than a type of furniture.

Or will someone try to convince me that they truly care about the folks two rungs below them on the ladder?

[jasonraymondson]

Jack, I don't even care about the people on "my" ladder.

[Bigfuture]

"Whatever takes place in secret will be brought out into the open...Woe to you are are rich now...blessed are you poor...blessed are the pure in heart."

Jesus of Nazareth (God in the flesh!)

Evil is dark and real, but will not ultimately triumph. The sun may be eclipsed by cloud at times, but is still shining beyond what we can see and in due course will again disperse night.

[charliebrownout]

Well, I agree, for every poor person there is someone poorer.

I think of them. I think of the people who are poorer than me. I think of the people who are richer (financially) than me.

Most weeks I actually hang out with some people who have less than me and would have (in the past) probably cleaned my parents' homes. I actually like them better than some of the folks I've met that are in the same income bracket as we are. Our kids play together.

I'm trying to learn Spanish so we can communicate a bit better. My Spanish is not so great, but I'm working on it.

People are just people. We're all made of the same stuff. The rich people just got lucky this time around; the poor people were just unlucky. Or maybe it is the other way around in some ways? I can't say for sure. There isn't really a difference, though.

BTW, I love the Beatitudes.

[FoolYap]

My guess is, if the topic ever comes up, it sounds something like:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hat I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them.

[Cashmere]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')ou and I are rich compared to some

[s0cks]

I think mark is talking about the super-wealthy. The ones who basically run the world. The one's who decide what happens next. Such as the elite's of the top world banks, the heads of big oil, royal family members, etc...

Personally I do not think they envy us one bit. For them, nothing is a problem. No matter what happens they will always have what they want. Whether this is true or not, it is what they probably believe. They have all the money they could ever need. What they want is more and more power. Catastrophe's allow them to exert this power. So for them, this may be good news?

Who knows. But I really don't think they give a damn about us. We're talking a big ladder here. If they are number 1 rung on a 100 rung ladder, we are rung 99.

[joeltrout]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('s0cks', ' ')For them, nothing is a problem. No matter what happens they will always have what they want.

[s0cks]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('joeltrout', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('s0cks', ' ')For them, nothing is a problem. No matter what happens they will always have what they want.

[joeltrout]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('s0cks', '
')
By "what they want" I mean completely material objects.

[s0cks]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('joeltrout', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('s0cks', '
')
By "what they want" I mean completely material objects.