MY DEFINITION: Who are the 0.01%? If we're going to deal with them they must be defined.
The steemit user @jesse2you asked me an important question. In my recent post I indicated that though it is popular to refer to the one percent as the problem the number of people that are the problem are actually much smaller than that. In the reply I was asked how I would deal with the less than one percent. I replied that I'd need to let it start with that seed of a question and grow into something. That is happening. I am not going to answer that question in this post. I am going to lay a stone in the path towards answering that question.
I don't like the one percent as that implies the problem is with 1 out of every 100 people. The signs I have looked at would seem to indicate that is not likely true. So then is it one out of every 1,000 people? I think that is still not small enough. I am going to shoot for the 0.01% or 1 out of every 10,000 people though I think that may still not be small enough.
In order, to come up with ideas on how to deal with them I believe it is important to define them. That is the purpose of this post. I am going to stream of consciousness brainstorm on what these 0.01% are. I'll use the term "Less than One Percenters" in some places as that was what @jesse2you used and I think it fits.
In general let's consider what I believe most people think when they consider the one percenters. I am going to list several traits. Not everyone thinks all of these. Yet I'm brainstorming.
- Greedy people that don't care about other people
- Wealth consolidation points when the world is struggling
- Rule Makers and Rule Breakers
- Oppressors
Those things describe some of the people I think of and to some degree they are fitting. Yet, I consider all of those very simplistic. Those are almost throw away thoughts that any of us can have and get angry about and not spend much more time thinking about it. For important things we should spend the time thinking. This is especially true if we plan to take action, or support people who are taking action. We must strive to understand what we are taking action against.
For me these people have been around for a long time and they transcend the concept of wealth. So much of the focus on the concept of one percenters focuses on wealth. Wealth is indeed an aspect of those I'd call the "power brokers", or perhaps "Shadow Brokers" as they accumulate that and it is a tool. Keep that in mind. Money is a tool. It is the best tool humanity has come up with to deal with universal exchange. Instead of you having to know what it takes to produce a sheep, or an iPhone, and all the other details you can set a value in this currency/money tool. If people agree with the exchange rate they will make the exchange. It has other benefits that it can almost instantaneously deal with changes in the market, and it does not require vast super computer like powers to track the status of every little component, supply, demand, and service offering. That is handled without the need for such by currency itself. This is wonderful.
However, it is a tool. Like any tool it can be used for benevolent or malevolent purposes. It can also accumulate and it can translate to a form of power. Yet it is important to know that even without its existence that power expresses itself in other ways.
Power ultimately comes from being able to force actions from other people, or be compelling enough that people will take action based upon your desires. Power can come in the form of charisma, and presence. Power can come in the form of celebrity. Power can come in the form of perceived intelligence and expertise on a subject.
Power as I am defining it has another name. Influence.
Money can express as a form of influence. Yet, influence exists with or without money.
This is also why I don't immediately flock to anti-capitalist movements, and embrace things like communism. Some aspects of communism keep currency, others remove it. Those that remove it have the challenge of trying to do what currency can do without it, and so far we don't have the ability to do that as none of us are omniscient gods. It also does not remove other forms of influence/power.
So regardless of the ideology there are those that understand power/influence. They likely come from families that have been around exercising such knowledge for many generations. This does not mean that people cannot join these ranks. There seems to indeed be a way to join such ranks. Joining those ranks doesn't always seem to be tied to wealth, though that does seem to be the most common.
So when I speak of the Less than One Percenters I am referring to those who not only manipulate the governments around the world, as well as the public via propaganda, but those that believe that it is their heritage and right to FORCE the rest of humanity to act as they want.
I would contend that most of our population is faced with that mental affliction. The affliction of believing that other people should be forced to act the way that the person thinks they should. "That is so wrong, they shouldn't be allowed to do that!", "There should be a law to make X illegal!"
The less than one percenters eat such statements from the population like candy. They love it. "Yes, give me more power! I'll gladly force other people to do things!"
So the less than one percenters that are a problem have wealth and/or influence as well as a belief they have a right to force the rest of people to act how they want.
So to answer @jesse2you's question I am going to have to think about how to deal with those people, and it is important enough I want to think about it for awhile.
Whatever I write will be my own OPINION. That doesn't mean I won't change my mind in the future. My mind is constantly changing with new input. I also am likely wrong about a great deal of things.
"I am going to shoot for the 0.01% or 1 out of every 10,000 people though I think that may still not be small enough."
I concur with this assessment.
"Those things describe some of the people I think of and to some degree they are fitting."
Pretty good breakdown of groups. It's hard to find a philosophically and logically consistent point between "people can hoard if they want" and "gross hoarders of wealth are bad for society". As your list suggests, it needs to be based on the source of said wealth.
"This is also why I don't immediately flock to anti-capitalist movements, and embrace things like communism."
It's reliable failure throughout history for all but the party apparatchiks is also a good reason.
Really curious to see that post and your conclusion. Agree, wealth is primarily a tool. We can all see their actions, namely the policies inflicted upon the rest of us. But I'm still not sure WHY. In 1984, the answer to the question of why does the Party do all those terrible things is pretty simple: "Because we can". Is it as simple as that?
That's the stuff I'm thinking about currently. I do believe a lot of it is "Because we can"
Communism is just a different group of oppressors!
I think ultimately it is the same group. Those that are truly pulling the strings likely don't care about capitalism or communism. They have power and influence of many types. They can operate with impunity in either situation.
Yup... It's the same guys that started WWI, WWI... the profiteers. They started the Russian Revolution. I think it was Eustace Mullins (I could be wrong, I watch so much of it) that did a great video about them. I am wrong!!!
I think it's on here
Thank you for this most interesting video. Only managed to watch for about an hour, I'll leave the rest for tomorrow.
It is long... But very well thought out and thorough!
I still go by the multiple groups of corruptocrats that temporarily ally to defend themselves aginst liberty movements, but that is kind of semantics
I think that 1% term should be just metaphor for the finanacial elite (I hate to use the term elite for these fuckers) the high end bankers, the influencers, the persuaders, the war mongers, the decrepit old men of money. We all know who they are.
Perhaps here. :) The rest of the world doesn't know much about them at all. That takes time, and research and most people would rather just have someone they know that they think is intelligent tell them who they should attack. You find this out when you try engaging protestors with actual dialog. They often know very little in terms of reasons why they are there other than some talking points.
When you say 'someone they know' that often comes in the form of heavily biased information from news corporations which should be seen as nothing more than entertainment, people think they have a trusting relationship with their favourite news anchor. Unfortunately the majority of the population get their ideologies and political slants from their TV screen.
Yep. I know. That was part of my point. :)
Yes, I think you have as close an answer as we're likely to get right there kevkong but as dwinblood says below, the problem is to get the majority of the population at large to realize who they are and, more to the point how much they're being manipulated by them fortheir own ends.
Of course we're all "singing on the same hymn sheet" as the saying goes on here, and to a lesser extent to our friends on FaceBook as well.
What we have to do is somehow compete and win against the Mainstream media which is their propaganda channel espousing a divide and rule agenda keeping them fighting each other instead of uniting against the ones who are truly causing the worlds pain. These people have been ruling using the two tenets of "divide and rule" and "give them bread and circuses" all the way back to Roman times. I don't know what the answer is, but I hope that we find one soon before they destroy us all....
I have resteemed this and am following you BTW @dwinblood
I believe that the following video containing a speech by Larry Lessig is instructive in identifying the "0.01%", but I think that the oppressive minority is closer to 0.02%:
I too, have pondered this question, and I no longer believe that it is possible to dislodge them from the top. I believe that an entire generation of kids must be raised to respect others. I really do think it's as simple as that.
The old guard will die off and be replaced by kids who have been raised in such a manner. How do we do this? I believe that two books by Dr. Ross W. Greene answer this question:
The Explosive Child
Raising Human Beings
Both books describe a way of interacting with kids as parents and caregivers in such a way that we do not impose our will upon our kids. I believe that Dr. Greene's ideas are consistent with Anarchists (and maybe many others) idea that power must always be justified by those who hold power.
Dr. Greene says that instead of arbitrarily imposing our will upon kids when they fail to meet our expectations, we collaborate with our kids to help them acquire the skills they need to meet said expectations.
This approach helps parents retain influence with their kids but also holds the rights of kids in high regard. Collaboration shows kids that problem solving is a team effort.
This idea, which can probably be found in other places I know not yet, presupposes the idea that real change comes from the bottom. And that means our kids. With a worldwide generation of kids erring on the side of peace and collaboration, it will be hard for the 0.02% to retain effective control.
Anyway, this is just a suggestion and my two cents. As you can see, you got me thinking with your article.
Oh I agree that whatever we DO about it won't be a fast fix. It'd likely take generations.
Glad to see you back, but you had said you'd be keys-down for a while.
You have asked probably the most important question we need to ask:
Who are our enemies?
It has to be answered on an individual basis..
otherwise you get group-think answers like
*The muslims", "the Jews", "the bankers", "the blacks", "the whites", "the establishment", etc ad infitum
and those individuals...
are the prime drivers of malfeasance in the world.
But there is a counter point that you bring up in discussion
The bulk of humanity seems to want to be led around by their nose...from April Morning:
So we do have a two-fold task
Well-written, and welcome back!
Yeah I had my annual Company Meeting from Thursday night thru Saturday night... Sunday I just recovered. :)
We all work from home and only physically get together as a company once per year. The good news is our company has exceeded projections for three years in a row so we must be doing something right. :)
sounds like you physically took it apart too! LOL
Brown Bottle Flu FTW!
Heh I don't drink Alcohol. For me it was because it was in my area so unlike most of the people that come to it I had to commute each day to the meeting and then we partied and played things like Cards Against Humanity so three days of 4+ hours of sleep per day usually require a recovery period. Plus we always eat way more food at those meetings than I usually do so I have a bit of food coma. Though there are plenty of other people that do DRINK alcohol at the meetings, and since it was in Denver a lot of our people that flew into it spent quite a bit of time at our Marijuana dispensaries. :)
When you have a good time like that, you can kind of burn out on endorphins as well.
I enjoyed so much booze over the years I tend to forget there are other ways to get worn out ;>
How many people came in and overindulged in the herb? I never used it much, so a couple of times I had weird reactions to suddenly indulging myself.
Our company has 22 people and only 4 or 5 really did the herb. They didn't really over indulge. There was a dispensary across the street from the hotel we had our meeting at. :)
well, we know who had big lunches then LOL
whales are skinflint when it comes to upvote a minnow but they never hold back when it comes to flagging
Yeah, I'm not talking about steemit in this post. I'm talking about the world.
what would you do after defining those people?
Still working on that. :)
I call them people herders, while most dwell their capacity for oppression I think that it would be worthwhile to examine the useful functions they perform. While preferring to be my own authority the way the majority of people simply parrot newspeak talking points( right now its "Trump is racist, sexist, blah, blah, blah" twenty odd years ago it was " He's So Damn Insane he's strapping babies to donkeys and blowing them up") shows me how easily manipulated public opinion is. Even anti-authoritarian movements are co-opted regularly, the government agents the "Weatherman" co-opting the anti-war movement is a good example( Jared Israel explores this topic thoroughly having been an eyewitness). So Yeah this is an important topic looking forward to reading your musings on it.
Influence peddlers. They choose who joins the ranks, and then make them wealthy and dependent on them to stay wealthy. One crucial part of their description that is missing is that while they enjoy lording it over the rest of humanity because of their belief in their own superiority, they also loathe humanity and want to destroy it. Their world view is the inverse of ours, and can best be described as Sabbatean - Frankist on steroids. How to deal with them? Try praying? Wear garlic necklaces? Who knows... . No one has that answer yet.
I think we can come up with a way to deal with them. Whether we'd be allowed to do it or not is another matter. Also it will take probably a couple of generations to pull off as I think the problem that produces these people exists even in those of us without this power/influence. Remove them only to have them replaced. Do the capitalism to communism to capitalism cycle. All of that is just kicking the can down the road as far as I am concerned.
First we need to know the actual names of the ringleaders, and make certain they can no longer spread their poison. Then we have to undo the brainwashing they've instilled in their witting and unwitting followers. They need to be taught how to love others, animals, plants and the world, instead of themselves, status and profits. That will take at least a generation or two; you're right about that.
I think the problem that created people like those ringleaders is instilled in our education system and our cultures (many/all of them). So I believe it would need to be two pronged as right now if you take out the ringleaders I am certain they would be replaced by new ones unless we change our perceptions, or education, and the way we do things. This is why I choose not to focus exclusively on money and I call it power or influence as I believe it transcends money and if we truly want to fight this we need to try to find the root cause rather than latching onto some of the tools and symptoms.
Oh, yeah. That goes without saying. The educational system fell to them a long time ago. There was an interview with a Russian man who spoke about the infiltration of western educational institutions, and how it will take at least a generation to undo the damage it causes. Sorry, I can't remember his name or find the video so easily. He described the problem so well, though I think even he did not realize what the infiltration was really all about. A double-pronged attack would still be insufficient. These guys are raised in families, and the family culture would be passed on outside of the educational system. And then there is the basics of human nature, which, unfortunately, tends toward the greedy and arrogant. It will all come back sooner or later - even if only in century or two.