Good Morning Friends,

Since Old Money is transcapitalist (has transcended, or escaped capitalism, as I have mentioned but will set forth in more detail when we look at the theses of Kevin Phillips's book, Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich and Naomi Klein's book, NoLogo - both of which argue two sides of the same coin, as it were, from a quantitative and qualitative points of view, respectively [Kevin Phillips talks about financialization and Naomi Klein talks about "branding"]) and New Money is capitalist, or I think we should say, super ultra capitalist; and since New Money always wants to become Old Money; New Money, therefore, also wants to escape or transcend capitalism.

But why should the bourgeoisie want to escape capitalism, the system they created, that serves them so well, that has bestowed income levels and wealth levels many hundreds of times multiple of what the rest of us, combined, own, to the point where multinational corporations are richer than many mid-sized countries?

Let's go back to Old Money. Really old Old Money, the Queen of England-type Old Money, did not and never had to - underlined that 'never had to' - practice capitalism to come by their fabulous wealth and power. It was wealth and power showering down upon them - or seeming to - by dint of divine right. I am just, intrinsically, so much better than everybody else! Its money without really having to work for it (again, think of financialization - derivatives, collateralized debt obligations, mortgage-backed securities, and so forth, paper shuffling finance creating quantum wealth largely separated from physical production (working we might say). As I said before, financialization and focus on branding, are ways of quickening the aging process of money, to my way of thinking, that is.

Remember the movie, The Matrix with Keanu Reeves? I'm talking about the first movie of the trilogy. One of the "agents" of the system (computers taking over humans system) was called Smith, played by a very fine character actor, whose name I don't know, but who also played the head elf in Lord of the Rings.

The physical presence of the agents on Earth was necessary because it was they who were the enforcers, charged with handling problems, destroying rebels, and keeping the human population in line. There was a scene in which Smith had captured Morpheus (played by Laurence Fishburne, who was Neo's [Keanu Reeves] mentor) and tortured him.

Smith told Morpheus how much he hated that realm, how much he longed to return "home." Smith didn't like the smell of the place. The point is that he, Smith, a being not from our planet and dimension, and thought it was a lower realm than his territory of origin, to which he wanted to return. I think we can say that Smith, feeling that he was condemned to troll our unworthy realm until his mission was completed, was more vicious in pursuit of his goal, so that he could finish his business and return to his realm as quickly as possible.

Science fiction and fantasy literature is full of scenarios like this, in which a being from another planet or dimension. He is "stuck" on our world and/or dimension, which usually also means our planet Earth, for some reason. He either has a crucial mission to fulfill and that is why he has been condemned to this "backwater." Or he might have been banished here as punishment for some crime or failure.

Invariably, these beings are anxious to get back home and to what they see as their proper station in life. They will do anything they have to do, to get back to where they have come from just as quickly as possible. The resentment at being stuck in a lower realm and their eagerness to get back home, combines to maked him that much more ruthless and determined, vicious, pitiless, and uncompromising in and to the supposedly lesser beings of our lower realm.

This is what I shall try to argue about capitalism. The bourgeoisie - or if you prefer a more neutral, populist term - , the oligarchy, actually see capitalism as a lower realm, from which they desperately seek release from, to ascend into the realm of effortless, graceful wealth by divine right - to become the Old Money which whom they frequently clash. Because of this the ruling class tend to practice capitalism so unmercifully, constantly putting downward pressure on wages, benefits, and working conditions, frequently using female, indentured serviture female, sweatshop labor in the developing world, occasionally even resorting to using child labor, hiring workers they know to be undocumented but actually calling the INS themselves, if these workers cause too much agitation about wages and conditions, and so on and so forth.

To be continued.

wingedcentaur