The British Diamond Jubilee

As we marvel at the adoring global audience cheering the British Queen’s Diamond jubilee, I can’t help but wonder something…..why don’t we throw a jubilee for our very own modern day rulers?  Not the prime ministers and presidents, of course, but the real rulers, the ones who control everything through money.

Their rule has been around for quite some time, but it’s reasonable to think of a new reign starting in the late 1970’s.  US president Carter appointed Paul Volker chairman of the Federal Reserve and his actions began the era of tight money, intensified anti-worker policies, surging inequality, and much else so arguably you could designate Carter’s election,1976, as the coronation year of a new regime.

The 40^th jubilee then will occur in 2016; we should begin planning for it now.  Just imagine the excitement as the richest men in the world parade through London, New York, or Berlin, accompanied by the top corporate CEO’s, hedge fund speculators, and bankers!

The absurdity of this idea tells us quite a bit about how unpopular capitalism is as a system of rule.  A jubilee for our real rulers, if ever planned, would require such a massive security force there would be no room for the massive number of hostile subjects.

I think our celebration of monarchy, while extremely distasteful, is actually more a commentary on the barbarity of the rule of money.  Few historical monarchies have been as hated by the common person as are the men who would star in our proposed jubilee.  So at a gut but not fully conscious level, I’d say a very large number of people see monarchy as a system that looks pretty damn good when compared to the rule of money, superficially disguised as democracy.