The Vile Maxim of The Masters

The Alberton Papers Vol. VI, #I
By Dick Darne 3-25-08
"Well, the chamomile tea sure smooths out your tummy and calms your faculties"
said Bill. "If it was good enough for Peter Rabbit then it’s good enough for me."
"So, these guys just kept on ‘communicating’ to us working folks about the wonders of the ‘Free Market’ and being fiercely independent, neither asking for help from any man nor giving help to any man. If anyone couldn’t realize the American Dream, then it must be a moral failure on their part." added Johnny.
"What they conveniently failed to disclose to us peons was that they meant ‘Free Market’ for us and the Nanny State for themselves." explained Todd. "Corporate welfare far, far exceeds welfare for the general populace. People pulling together towards a common goal, benefitting all, is anathema to them. Better to have ‘everyone for himself’, ‘survival of the fittest’, anything to divide and conquer."
"Remember the nutcase up north of here, still in the legislature I think, who advocated teaching Adam Smith’s ‘Wealth of Nations’ in our classrooms, as do a lot of the ‘Free Marketeers’?" asked Bill. "Most of them probably never actually read it but are quick to selectively quote it. I slogged through it and found it hard going, only a glutton for punishment would relish a cover to cover journey. I do remember a couple things that stood out that these guys never mention. First is old Adam’s bit about the division of labor, how it turned men into wretches. The second is ‘The Vile Maxim of The Masters’ in which he described it as ‘all for me, nothing for anyone else.’ "
"Unregulated, free market capitalism was also described by Keynes as: ‘an extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all.’ " added Todd. "Don’t get me wrong, I believe in our system, but it does need a bit of regulating from time to time."
"It surely shouldn’t be naming bridges, schools and hospitals after the ‘Captains of Industry’ who in most cases are nothing more than plundering, pillaging buccaneers." exclaimed Gno, who once again proved he wasn’t sleeping. "And maybe our fearless leaders should stop trying to define the ‘American Dream’ and focus on ‘The Dreams of Americans’. Just what would Jesus do? Seems like the only butts he ever kicked was the moneychangers. We not only need to be informed, but we all need long memories."
Tune in next week, when our guest Professor Sven Berkowitz from the NoDak Institute of Financial Technology will explain just where all this lost money goes and how it relates to ‘The Vile Maxim of The Masters’. Thanks to all my faithful readers for slogging thru 100 of the Alberton Papers. dd

tommie me lad

The Alberton Papers, Vol. V, #XX
By Dick Darne 3-16-08
"What’s with old Dick today?" someone asked. "He looks like he lost his best friend."
"He has," answered Johnny. "Tom Wheeler went on his final Vision Quest on this side a few days ago."
"That has to hurt." added Todd. "Dick told me about some of his ‘high adventures’ with Tom, like one time about 25 years ago when they went up in the high country, stayed several days, no tent, just Dick, Tom and the dog, sleeping on the ground. They even lost track of the days. The drank a whole bottle of maple syrup for quick energy. Took a bath in Cedar Log Lake while the ice and snow was melting around them. Kinda reminds me of a couple lines in an old song:
‘Up in the high country, up in the high country,
Prettiest place in all this world, up in the high country.’
It surely is something Dick will never forget."
"I remember another time Dick told me about, when He and Tom packed a lunch and visited the place he grew up and played." added Bill. "long after, on their shorter adventures, they used to swap stories of their childhood adventures. Can we ever go home again? I don’t know if they ever resolved that one, except there’s a better chance on the other shore. Just what that was they never decided either. Once again, lines from an old song:
‘Another was called just a few weeks before,
Two who bloom like roses over on the other shore.’
Memories like this stay with you until the end of your time."
"Tom used to keep Dick tuned in to the real world, he would often remind Dick when he was getting a little full of it and it was advice well taken." said Todd.
Then the music started, faintly and words could be heard, seeming to come from everywhere.
"Way up there in the mountain air, they used to go a questing
As the years went by they couldn’t get as high, without a little resting
It’s done for one, for now there’ll be no more
I won’t be sad for Tommie me lad, we’ll be questing on the other shore."
dd

The Great Communicator

The Alberton Papers, Vol. V, #XIX
By Dick Darne 3-11-08
"Tell me more" said Johnny. "How do you ‘check things out’?"
"Lots of ways", replied Todd. "A big list of forwardees is one tipoff. Sometimes the absurdity of the content. If it’s loaded with lots of ‘feel-good, psuedo patriotic homilies which insinuate that any who do not agree must be un-american, then the truth has been lost somewhere along the line. Of course there are several web sites devoted to dispelling myths and debunking misinformation."
"Yeah, I can remember back when all they had was the good old rumor mill and they just called you a ‘dirty commie’. Of course, that can’t be used anymore because the commies are extinct now, defeated by ‘The Great Communicator’ in one profound command to ‘tear down this wall!’ Added Bill.
"That’s what they would have you believe" interjected Gno, "except it was really a Polish Union Electrician and Solidarity that brought down the Soviet Union of Thugs.
"Why was Reagan called ‘the Great Communicator’ anyway?" asked Johnny. "Was he the first to use these methods of communicating?"
"Let me explain this one." answered Elder. "For aeons there have been great communicators, and mostly they achieved big immediate results, but sometimes the long term results were a disaster. We’ll just skip ahead to a point not so far back, say about seventy some years ago, to two men, who rose to power through a combination of events and their considerable oratorical prowess. Adolf Hitler inspired his countrymen to bite off a lot more than they could chew, ending in disaster. Franklin D. Roosevelt inspired his people and together we were able to overcome the great depression and a world war. Communicating itself is just a tool, it can be used for good or bad. Bill here was around for the rise of ‘the great communicator’, let him fill you in on that."
"Let me confess that I was seduced by the ‘great one’ and even voted for him the first time." said Bill. "I’m actually old enough to remember Goldwater, so I will begin there. Since 1933, the republicans had been in the political wilderness, except for a short period right after WW II, after which they were sent back again. They tried again in the 60's with Goldwater and back again they went. They got smarter and craftier, not wise by any means, but looked for a way to get people to come over to their point of view. Voila’, there he was, a grade B actor who could read his script. Of course there was that little matter of ‘ratting’ out his own Union brothers in the Actor’s Guild, but that never really came up. He had been in the employ of one of the world’s largest corporations, yes good old GE, merchants of death and destruction and owners of NBC. He played his part well. First governor of California, then President of the United States of America. Old habits die hard, right out of the chute he destroys the air traffic controllers union and sets the pace for an all out assault on organized labor and the working folks of America!"
"Old Bill’s really getting worked up, we better take a short break for now, someone fix Bill a nice cup of chamomile tea." Said Johnny. "I’m getting an earful and I don’t want old Bill to croak on me now. Also I want to tell the nice folks out there to keep in touch, we’ll pick this up next week." dd