Goldman Sachs and 'Human Sacrifice' to the Money God
"The
global financial crisis proves it: when profit is deified, scam artists become
prophets. Gloss over secularism and the extreme modernity of liberal
deregulation as we might, its high priests are the theologians of injustice and
famine."
With a coordinated national crackdown on the Occupy Wall Street movement underway, a New York member holds up a sign during a 'day of action,' Nov. 17.
The
crisis in Europe is a moment of "glory" for Goldman Sachs. The first
two weak links, Greece and Italy, will now be led by men who spent part of
their careers in this temple of unlimited speculation and dubious financial
maneuvering. Thanks to the storm of public debt devastating European Union economies,
an open transformation of policy structures is underway. The omnipotence of
multinationals and the financial markets has been consecrated. By market decision,
maneuvering over speculative bonds issued by the weakest links in the E.U.,
Ireland, Portugal, Greece and Italy, has resulted in changes to governance and the
introduction of austerity policies issued to ensure the repayment of loans made
at usurious rates by the very people that the states have saved from the sub-prime
shipwreck.
The
ever-more-stringent credit conditions imposed on the weak links has dragged
them into the trap of debt … a situation that we in Algeria experienced at other
times for other reasons. Bled dry, the countries, placed under the de-facto
authority of representatives of the creditors, the International Monetary Fund,
the European Central Bank and the European Commission, have had to change policy
direction amid the storm. And those taking the reins come from Goldman Sachs or
the ECB. The management of the latter are accountable to no one, the
deliberations of which (the board of governors) are secret. The structures of
Western democracy have been shaken to their foundations. And yet, we hear few
voices denouncing this hegemonic power grab by non-elected decision makers who
are beyond all popular oversight.
The
definition and management of economic policy is made by co-opted bureaucrats
who respond only to the markets. Largely internalized by a public opinion
subjugated by media controlled by the power of money, this fact is contested only
by alternative expressions which have found refuge on the Web.
The
movement of the "indignant" driven from public places on all fronts by
the world's police forces is constantly minimized or ridiculed by TV news. They [members
of the Occupy movement] are depicted merely as furtive shadows on the stage of infotainment
and propaganda. This "modern-day" discourse,
with all of the harsh and violently antisocial actions that it conveys,
is relayed in every way possible. The banks and multinational corporations benefiting
from social despair have their advocates - vicars of the Profit God and
missionaries of the market. This insatiable god is celebrated by theologians of
the oldest faith in the world: every man for himself and the law of the jungle.
We are no longer dealing with ideology, but with religion. It is that famed,
unsurpassed dogma of the absolute supremacy of the market. It's the myth of that
miraculous regulator, the invisible hand. The miracle is a costly one: millions left
behind and rampant poverty.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
The
global financial crisis proves it: when profit is deified, scam artists become
prophets. Gloss over secularism and the extreme modernity of liberal
deregulation as we might, its high priests are the theologians of injustice and
famine. The vocation of Goldman Sachs is one of human sacrifice to the greater
glory of the Money God.
