overthrowing the new feudalism
TRANSCRIPT
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
1/66
Overthrowing the New FeudalismAn Alternative Manifesto of Occupation
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
2/66
The New Feudalism
The old system has returned.Over the past few decades, it
has slowly crept up on usunawares.
We now live under a newsystem oflords, royalty andpriests.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
3/66
The Old System
Lords held the right to propertywhile the peasants worked for
them in return for protectionand the use of land.
Royalty held political power andruled the kingdom with thesupport of the lords.
Priests provided divinejustification of the nobility andthe royaltys right to rule over
average people in jargon theycould not understand.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
4/66
The super-rich are the newlords.
This small group controls most
of the worlds wealth andproperty. They also control thepolitical system through theapplication of their wealth.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
5/66
Politicians are the new royalty.
They need to work for theagendas of the super-rich in
return for the financial supportthey need to consolidate andmaintain their power.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
6/66
Economists and academicexperts are the new priests.
They justify the actions of
politicians and businessexecutives with a complexmass of theoretical jargon thatmost average people do nothave the time to study.
It is only accessible to thosewho make careers out of it.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
7/66
Observation
Any system of politicaloppression is perpetuated by
the collusion between the threegroups that control thefollowing three ingredients:money, powerand knowledge.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
8/66
Principle: Money = Power=Money = Power
All money is power. All power is
equivalent to money.
Money has worth because it haspower to get things you want.But if you already have thepower get what you want, it is
the same as having money.
Whoever has one, can use it toget more of the other. The richgrow more powerful; thepowerful grow richer.
Quote:
To turn $100 into $110, is work.To turn a $100 million into $110million, is inevitable.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
9/66
Argument
Knowledge = Power.
But power is relative. It is onlyuseful if you have more of itthan others.
Therefore possession ofknowledge that is not
accessible to others is power.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
10/66
Example
In an agrarian society, a personwho can predict the amount of
rainfall each season has power.
But only if the knowledge ofhow it is done is kept secret.
To maintain the power, he has
to mislead the others. He willclaim favors from the godsrather than revealing theweather signs he looks for.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
11/66
Theory
Oppressive systems areinherently unstable
A system where a smallminority holds most of thesocietys money and power is
not stable.
The population alwaysoutnumbers the elite.Rebellions will emerge withtime.
But only if the people know
what is going on
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
12/66
Knowledge as the key toperpetuating power
Deny people knowledge of the
system. Limit this knowledge toexperts.
Make the knowledgeinaccessible: use a deadlanguage (e.g. Latin); use
technical jargon; multiply thecomplexity of the system sothat it takes years of study tounderstand it.
Dismiss challenges to the
system as uneducated oruninformed. Dismiss alternativeideas as fringe or crackpot.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
13/66
Argument: The failure ofcapitalism and socialism
Both incorrectly focused on the
distribution ofmoney.
The real issue is the distributionofpower.
The proper system is one where
money can buy anything exceptvotes.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
14/66
Argument
Any real distribution of powerhas to take place away from
authorities and to individualcitizens.
Power transfer from oneauthority to another authority(even if more regional) cannot
be considered genuinedistribution of power.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
15/66
Decentralization of Power
Power is always exercised byindividuals, not groups or
entities.
When one says government
has power, it is those
individuals within thegovernment who actually have
it.
Decentralization of powermeans limiting the maximumamount of political power thatcan be held by any individual
human being.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
16/66
The Invasion of theMBA/Harvard Types
Early business leaders were
experts of their domain cars,steel, electricity, computers.They had no MBAs. Modernbusiness leaders are experts
in something called businessand know nothing about their
domain.
Argument
There is no such disciplinecalled business. It is a
concept used by those with nohard skills or domainknowledge to take overbusinesses built by pastleaders.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
17/66
Harvard/MBA Types TheMethods
Downplay the hard skills they
do not have accounting,engineering, design, logistics.
Glamorize soft skills
marketing, communicationskills, teamwork, branding,
making deals, risk taking,strategy.
Instead of building ones own
businesses, use MBAcredentials to gain entry to
businesses already built bypast business leaders.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
18/66
Harvard/MBA Types TheMethods
Gradually displace managers
with domain expertise withmore MBA types. Domainexperts tend to see throughMBA style management and areconsidered a threat.
Claim that brand is moreimportant than product/service.
Delegate all value generatingwork to domain experts andmake oneself responsible for
strategy.
Fail at strategy and blamemarket conditions for losses.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
19/66
Harvard/MBA Types TheMethods
Hire consultants to mask lack of
understanding of the business.
Outsource to mask inability tomanage a full supply line.
Mergers and acquisitions used
to mask inability to build newbusiness areas, lack of R&Dand not knowing how to re-invest profits.
Cost cutting to mask lack ofrevenue growth.
External trainers and team
building to mask inability tobuild employee capabilities.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
20/66
Harvard/MBA Types TheMethods
Create a culture where people
are made to believe thatbusiness is about mergers,acquisitions, making deals,
strategy, impressive
presentations and not the corebusiness.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
21/66
Corporate CEOs and boards ofdirectors
They often sit in each others
boards of directors and haveattended the same ivy leaguebusiness schools.
They will always pay each otherlarge bonuses and severance
packages.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
22/66
Corporate CEOs and speculators
Speculators and hedge fundsbecome large shareholders of
corporations.
They influence CEO and board ofdirectors to increasingly focus onshort term increases in stockprice (e.g. spending onmarketing), at the expense of longterm assets, R&D, personnel etc.
Speculators cash in by selling thestock once the price reaches theirtargets.
CEO collects a bonus and departsthe corporation with a goodreputation before the stock pricestarts falling.
Repeat cycle till the corporationfaces bankruptcy.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
23/66
The Old Boys Club
The players
CEOs, business school alumni,politicians, regulators,economists, diplomats, boardsof directors.
The methods
Assume positions of power andinfluence within businessschools, corporations andgovernment.
Trade favors with old
classmates and alumni.
Create entry barriers tooutsiders by creating an
exclusive network.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
24/66
The Revolving Door
The players: High levelcorporate executives, bankers,
politicians, regulatory agencyofficials.
Politicians: Serve as regulators.Create regulations favorable tocorporate interests in return for
various favors. Leave politicalcareers and get hired asconsultants, executives orlobbyists for friendlycorporations.
Corporate executives: Retirefrom posts and join governmentagencies that regulate theirindustry. Create favorableregulatory environment forformer employers.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
25/66
Economists
Justify government andcorporate actions with
theoreticaljargon that isincomprehensible even toeducated members of thegeneral public.
Shift the blame from politicians
and corporate executives tojargon: market conditions,inflation, interest rates, moneysupply, volatility, liquidity,consumer confidence etc.
Justifies amongst other things:deposit insurance, fractionalreserve banking, fiat currency,deficit government spending,high debt.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
26/66
Bankers
The Fractional Reserve Systemallows bankers to eat their cakeand have it too to say thatthey are holding your $100deposit while actually holdingonly $10 and lending $90 out tosomeone else for interest.
That someone else pays the $90
to someone and he too depositsit in another bank, which in turnlends out $81 of that, so on andso forth.
Now there is more apparentmoney in circulation ($171) than
there really is ($100).
The lower the reserve rate (e.g.10%) the more profits the bankmakes.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
27/66
Deposit Insurance & Too Big to
Fail
Fractional reserve banking is a
high-profit, high-risk venture. Ifmost depositors try to withdrawtheir money at the same time, abank run occurs the bank hasno funds at hand to paybecause most of it has been
lent out.
Instead of the bank absorbingthe losses due to its riskypractices, bankers get thegovernment to use taxpayer
money to protect them. This iscalled deposit insurance.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
28/66
Deposit Insurance & Too Big to
Fail Cont.
Bankers can gamble with
depositor money knowing thatthe government will bail themout if they lose.
This entire process is justifiedby various theories produced
by economists and isperpetuated by the revolvingdoor.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
29/66
Campaign Finance
The super-rich will always beataverage candidates because
they can out-advertise them.
How can a representativedemocracy represent theaverage person if it iscomposed of people from a tiny
minority of super-rich? Do suchpeople represent you?
Spending money to buy votes isnot freedom of speech.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
30/66
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
31/66
A corporation cannot have apolitical will. The individualmembers of the corporationcan.
The political will of thecorporation is actually the will
of its top executives, not itsemployees.
Individual members of acorporation alreadyhaveconstitutional rights by virtue ofbeing individuals, regardless oftheir membership in thecorporation. They do not need
to be represented twice.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
32/66
Capitalism Corporate
Feudalism
Under proper free market
conditions, the distribution ofwealth should be roughlyproportional to the distributionof skills in society.
The economy should be
dominated by small andmedium businesses.
Claim
Today, a few large corporationsare using political power tosuppress competition fromsmaller, more numerouscompetitors.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
33/66
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
34/66
Copyright
Copyrights are used by largecorporations as both a source
of easy money and as a legalweapon.
They have lobbied andsuccessfully increased theoriginal 25 years to almost a
100 years today.
Record labels and moviestudios profit for close to acentury without actuallycontributing anything new to
society after the initial release.
Copyright revenue is used tolobby for more copyrightextensions.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
35/66
Patents
Patents are not aboutprotecting an invention. That
can be already achieved bykeeping the invention a tradesecret.
Patents are a mechanism toencourage inventors to share
their discoveries with otherswho can develop it further andcreate derivative works.
At the same time, for about 20years, the inventor can recover
his R&D costs through royaltiesfrom other manufacturers.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
36/66
Patents
Claim: Patents have becomeweapons at the hands of large
corporations.
They hire large teams of patentlawyers to patent even the mosttrivial inventions. Smallinventors do not have the
money to do this.
Large corporations also usepatents to prevent innovationsby competitors they sueclaiming patent infringement as
a tactic. Whether the case iswon or not, a product can bedelayed.
Instead of encouraginginnovation, patents now stifle it.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
37/66
Media Bias by omission
Large media corporations areowned by rich media moguls
who have their own partyaffiliations.
Views and events that threatenthe established views areignored. Ignoring a viewpoint is
far more potent than attackingit.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
38/66
The Demands
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
39/66
Ban lobbying
Do not confuse lobbying withthe right to petition. The U.S.
lobbying industry spends about$30 billion per year (over $200per voter).
Citizens of a senator orcongressmans constituency
should be able to petitionhim/her once they have aminimum number of signatures.
The difference between goodand bad lobbying has been
muddied. Ban everythingexcept the above.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
40/66
Shut the revolving door
Ban government officials,senators and congressmen
from consulting for, orinteracting in any way withprivate corporations orinstitutions.
Ban regulators from joining
private corporations after theirtenure.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
41/66
Abolish corporate personhood
This is both extremely highpriority and extremely difficult.
All contracts should be betweenhuman beings in the case ofcorporations, executives. If theexecutive leaves, contractsshould be transferred to his
replacement.
Legal liability of decisions willrest with decision makingexecutive or committee. Onlyfinancial liability will rest with
the corporation.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
42/66
Overhaul campaign finance
When running for public office,candidates have to temporarily
forfeit free speech rights.
No candidate may use privatefunds for advertising oncecandidacy is declared.
Candidates require set numberof signatures to receivecampaign funds fromgovernment.
Corporations may not partakein the political process. Onlyindividuals that make up thecorporations may do so.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
43/66
Implement 100% Reservebanking through IT
A bank should not letdepositors money gather dust.But at the same time, moneycannot be in two places at once.
Develop an instant fixeddeposit scheme:
Depositors can block anyamount from their savings atany time for any period(preferably through an internetsystem). Bank can lend out onlysuch blocked funds. Depositorscannot withdraw these funds
until maturity.
Interest is earned, but no risk ofbank run. No inflation of moneysupply.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
44/66
Eliminate short term CEOs andshort term shareholder power
Only shareholders who hold
long term stock (say, thatcannot be sold for 5 years) canvote.
Pay a large chunk of a CEOsremuneration in the form of
long term stock options.
If CEO leaves early, or thecompanys stock price falls
over the long term, he will losefinancial benefits.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
45/66
End secrecy and surveillance
Dilemma: There are thingsabout national security that
citizens have a right to knowbut foreign nationals do not.How to make this happen?
Dilemma: Should lawenforcement preemptively
monitor criminal activity? Isprevention worth the risk ofputting surveillance at thehands of the government?
For any given federal secret,
there should be at least tworeviewers from each state(representing the two mainparties) with clearance toreview it.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
46/66
A swifter justice system
Argument
The more time passes betweencrime and punishment, the lessof a deterrent it is.
No case should be held up dueto a lack of court dates. Victimsshould not languish in courtsfor years.
Keep pouring resources intothe justice system until the onlything that limits the speed of acase are the legal proceedingsthemselves.
Bring information technologyinto the deliberation process.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
47/66
Non-financial penalties
Fines encourage rich criminalsand penalize poor ones. An
expensive legal system doesthe same. Fines cause the richno harm.
Fines should be there tocompensate the victim, not to
penalize and deter the guilty.
All crimes should carry apersonal penalty componentthat cannot be bypassed bypaying money. The guilty must
personally submit to thepenalty.
Possible: Community service,banning from certain activities,civic detention, prison
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
48/66
Disregard the economists
Economists failed to predictevery major economic crisis
and repeatedly dismissedanyone who correctly predictedit.
Economics as a science is stillwhere chemistry was when it
was alchemy. Economistscannot even agree on what thefundamental principles of thediscipline should be.
Do not trust a group of
experts who trust theirmathematical models more thantheir own senses.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
49/66
The MethodsSucceeding where traditional movements fail
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
50/66
The Basic Principle of Protest
The tyrant has only two eyes,
two hands and one body, no
more than is possessed by you.Where has he acquired enougheyes to spy upon you, if you donot provide them yourselves?How can he have so many armsto beat you with, if he does not
borrow them from you? The feetthat trample down your cities,are they not your own? Howdoes he have any power overyou except through you? Howwould he dare assail you if he
had no cooperation from you?
-- tienne de la BotieThe Discourse of Voluntary
Servitude
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
51/66
Do not talk sense to the money-power elite
They already know what they
should not do and why. Andthey dont care. Talk sense onlyto voters.
Those in power only respond topower power to unseat them.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
52/66
Ignore the nerve center, attackthe immune system.
Ignore the leaders politicians,
business leaders they willignore protests as long as theycan get away with it.
Target the foot soldiers, croniesand collaborators
All armed collaborators whoinstill fear in their fellowcitizens under the aegis of lawenforcement, national security.
Riot police who shoot and
arrest protestors, secret policeorganizations that spy onopposition groups. Theirsalaries and equipment are paidfor by taxpayer money.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
53/66
Foot soldiers, cronies andcollaborators
Gather evidence their faces,
their names, where they live.
Shun them from society theyhave to live among you; theirchildren have go to school withyour children; they have to
attend church with you; shopwhere you shop.
When regime change comes, trythose who shot protesters formurder; others for attemptedmurder, assault, abuse ofpower.
They cannot both oppresssociety andbe a part of it.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
54/66
Just Following Orders
Do not allow the Nurembergdefense.
Armed personnel who usedforce against citizens willalways claim that they werejust following orders once a
regime has fallen.
The justification for acts donepursuant to orders does notexist if the order was of such anature that a man of ordinarysense and understanding wouldknow it to be illegal.
The threat ofprosecution/execution shouldmake any foot soldier,collaborator think twice.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
55/66
Sicsemper tyrannis
A Latin phrase meaning Thusalways to tyrants, said to have
been uttered by Brutus duringJulius Caesars assassination.
Subverting the democraticprocess of a nation is a seriouscrime, on par with, if not worse
than murder.Seek maximum penaltiesincluding life imprisonment andexecution for leaders ofoppressive regimes and theirfoot-soldiers.
Unless a few heads falloccasionally, the rich andpowerful tend to forget theirplace in society.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
56/66
Ignore all secondary issuestemporarily environment,poverty, disease, war all theseare either caused or made
worse by one thing: the mixingof money and politics.
Do not ask for sweepingreforms. Select several, veryspecific reforms that have very
specific implementation steps.Maintain relentless pressure.Ask for nothing else, acceptnothing else.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
57/66
Appeal to other activists
Understand: The money-powerelite stands in the way of
solving many of the worldsproblems. They keepredirecting resources andpolitical power away from realissues to their own interests.
No matter what you stand forending famine, environment,human rights, disarmamentthe root cause includes mixingof money and political power.
All activists should pool theirresources and form a commonfront to fight this. Nothing willwork as long as the money-power link exists. All othercauses are secondary.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
58/66
Organize
Consider organizing yourselvesinto a caucus structure. The
smallest possible unit is agroup of 3 individuals who trusteach other. Conflicts are votedon. No deadlock since oddnumber.
A possible hierarchy: next level:3 groups of 3 = 9. So on and soforth. At each level, a unit hasone of three votes.
Groups that work with eachother should be linked by atleast one pair of members whoknow and trust each other.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
59/66
Communicate
Communication and publicityare two different things. Keep
private communications asprivate as possible.
Meet in person when phonesare monitored. Use phoneswhen neighborhood is
monitored. Use the Internetwhen both are not possible.
Peer-to-peer communications(whether electronic or not) arebetter than using third partynetworks (e.g. telephone, ISP).
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
60/66
Educate
In the early stages, educatingpeople privately is far more
important than publicity.
Publicity works against you ifyour bark is bigger than yourbite.
Never preach, debate or berate
friends with opposing views.Win the person, not theargument. Learn the art ofasking questions that answerthemselves.
Know true stories to illustrateevery point you have to make.True stories hit harder thanstatistics or theory.
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
61/66
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
62/66
Target individual humans forcriticism never corporations,institutions or concepts.
Crimes are committed byindividual human beings, notentities or concepts.
When accusing, accuse theguilty person, not his
organization or his beliefs.
Att iti P di Shift
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
63/66
Attrition vs. Paradigm Shifts
Those in power will ignore non-disruptive protests as long as
they can.
People holding boards are not athreat. Popular voterdissatisfaction is also not athreat if all major parties
represent the same status quo.What is needed is an abruptshift in the political paradigm.Unseat and prosecute thosewho hold illegitimate power.
Find non-violent, but highlydisruptive ways to hurtillegitimate power at every level.
O t t th lit
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
64/66
Out-vote the money-power elite
Protests alone will fail becausepoliticians know they can
deliver their campaignmessages if they spend enoughmoney.
Ignore EVERYTHING that comeout of politicians mouths for
the next few elections. Judge acandidates convictions basedsolely on where his moneycomes from.
Get as many people to followthis strategy as possible.Achieve multiple upsets acrossas many elections as possible.
V t f f i did t
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
65/66
Vote for fringe candidates
Calling candidates who are notpart of the money-power elite
fringe or unelectable is aweapon.
Disarm this weapon by votingfor fringe candidates. It isriskier to let the mainstream
candidates keep winning thanto vote for wildcard candidateswith unproven track records.
Any potential disruption causedby such candidates is worth therisk.
Corporate executives,
Super-rich
Economists,
Experts
-
7/31/2019 Overthrowing the New Feudalism
66/66
Super rich
Destruction of legitimate businesses
Draining profits for bonuses and severance
Breaking honest employees
Contributing to political campaignsControlling candidate agendas
Lobbying to subvert laws and regulations
Infiltrating regulatory agencies
Acquiring public money through various schemes
Use legal tactics to undermine competition
Politicians,
Support groups
Use money to dominate elections
Pass money-power-elite-friendly laws
Help cover corporate losses with tax moneyUse police/military force against opposition
Monitor opposition in the name of fighting crime
and terrorism
Destruction of the economy through debt and
inflation
Experts
Justify economic schemes of politicians and
corporate executives with theories and jargon.
Criticize and drive away new ideas and theories.
Make the system incomprehensible to the public.
You
Discard traditional methods of protest
Ignore the experts
Organize and educate yourselves
Target and shun foot-soldiers and collaborators
Temporarily suspend all other causes and
focus all available personnel and resources to
breaking the money-power link