
The “Yellow Vests” Show How Much the Ground Moves Under Our Feet - graeberliker
http://criticallegalthinking.com/2018/12/09/the-yellow-vests-show-how-much-the-ground-moves-under-our-feet/
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mc32
This is key:

“in a financialised economy, only those closest to the means of money-creation
[...] are in a position to employ the language of universalism. As a result,
any political claims as based in particular needs and interests, tended to be
treated as manifestation of identity politics, and in the case of the social
base of the GJ, therefore, cannot be imagined it as anything but proto-
fascist.”

If these people represented any other view. Addressing climate change,
protesting capitalism, etc., we’d see this covered 24x7. But they are in great
part anti-globalists who want to wrest control back and put it in the hands of
the middle class. So much of the media dismisses it. A few teargas canisters
at the US’s SD-TJ border and it’s a crime against humanity. Almost daily
teargassing of citizens and those people who piped up are silent.

Side: It’s a shame this was flagged. I think we need to think the implication
of moneyed people influencing hoew the hoi polloi should think and act.

~~~
MichaelMoser123
I think he was saying that if you are not a noble universalist, then the media
will portray you as only being in pursuit of your narrow interests, and
conclude that you are probably a racist in disguise. In addition to that they
try to claim a monopoly on the label of universalism and deny it from anybody
else at will. Is that correct?

It took me some time to parse the sentence, I guess he would reach more people
if he had used simple terms

The fun thing is that this argument that only the elite may be noble isn't
exactly new - it goes back to Ps-Xenophon in the ‘Political regime of the
Athenians’ back in 5th century BC. He claimed that the demos is corrupted by
his debased position, and that only elites are good (given the chance to rule
exclusively, which they hadn't in Athens)

~~~
mc32
Pretty much. He’s saying that the 1%ers who are Macron’s champions are the
only ones who can afford universalism because they are the ones who benefitted
from this new financialist monetary system and that they can only see anyone
who doesn’t share a world view they can’t afford (because the working class as
non beneficiaries of the new economics they have more immediate worries) as a
selfish bigots.

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MichaelMoser123
> Most corporate profits are now no longer derived from producing or even
> marketing anything, but in the manipulation of credit, debt, and “regulated
> rents."

I have read this assertion before, but how can you measure or prove that? I
mean there is still an awful lot of stuff being produced, somehow.

Wow, HN mods seem to have deleted this story, so i can't answer the comment:
[https://i.imgur.com/tOlYKUa.png](https://i.imgur.com/tOlYKUa.png) says that
in 1971, when they still had the gold standard, the ratio was 20-22 now it is
around 25-27; so is that a big qualitative change that changes the nature of
the system? (Ok, it was much higher a few years back, but it is fluctuating)
Still I don't entirely trust the argument that change of gold standard changed
everything.

~~~
anvandare
Look up statistics, I guess?

I found [1] and (assuming it can be categorized under "Financial Profits")
made it into a (terribly quick and dirty) graph [2].

[1]
[https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/ERP-2017/ERP-2017-table6](https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/ERP-2017/ERP-2017-table6)

[2] [https://i.imgur.com/tOlYKUa.png](https://i.imgur.com/tOlYKUa.png)

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ousta
the article is right in every point. it just forgets some key ones. how the
minorities and especially the immigrants are part of this universalist
narrative and used as a damocles sword on any one raising a critiscim of this
market centric-universalism

