Money isn't real. Here's proof: a parable

Amazon.com's books on the strange history of "money"

Money, beauty! How can I love debt?

CEO Kiana Danial wants to get rich by offering to make you rich on linkedin.com

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Kiana Dufour signed. Wants rich spouse?

Do our names have anything to do with our life paths?

If one names a daughter "Kiana," will that benefit her more in terms of money or beauty, the main driving forces of a worldly life?

It would be best if she were virtuous, accruing profitable (kusala, wholesome) karma the Buddha called merit to gain the five most desirable things in this world, at least when looked at in the long term.

Name Numerology Calculator and What it Means (astrala.com)

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SUTRA: Five things everyone wants

What you want, get it by karma.

The Buddha: "O [rich householder], there are five wished for, pleasant, and agreeable things that are rare in the world. What are they? They are long life, beauty, happiness, fame, and [rebirth in] a heaven.

"But of these five things, O householder, I do no teach that they are to be obtained by prayer or by vows [making deals with God or the universe, promising to do something in exchange for a boon]. If one could obtain them by prayer or vows, who would not do it?

"For a noble disciple, O householder, who wishes to have long life, it is unbefitting to pray for longevity or to take delight in doing so. Instead, one should follow a path of [practice in] life that is conducive to longevity. By following such a path, one will obtain long life, be it human or divine.

"For a noble disciple, O householder, who wishes for beauty... happiness... fame... [rebirth in] a heaven, it is unbefitting to pray for them or to take delight in doing so. Instead, one should follow a path of life that is conducive to beauty... happiness... fame... [rebirth in] a heaven.

"By following such a path, one will obtain beauty, happiness, fame, and [rebirth in] a heaven." (AN 5.43)

(Jay Z) A "bitch" is dog, which the police are threatening to call to search

This vulgar and explicit hit song is about trying to get rich in America

How to get rich right now

I'm the most beautiful Kiana in
the world (Morales/listal.com)

There’s a huge misconception between good debt and bad debt. 💸 Both sit in the "liability" column on a balance sheet, but there’s a huge difference between the two, which is the critical differentiator between poor people and rich people:

Poor people have bad debt. 😖 Wealthy people take advantage of good debt. 🤑 In fact, right now, debt is my favorite type of income!

Our Million Dollar Family Accelerators have accomplished so much using leverage.💰 But be very careful not to confuse the two types of debt in day-to-day life. 🚨

OD Martinique: Kiana (Quebec MOI)

📉 Bad debt is a liability on something that doesn’t make money — like luxury bags, cars that depreciate in value, cable TV, and all the other things poor people go into debt for to look like what they think a rich people look like.

📈 In contrast, good debt, also known as funding or leverage (gearing), is defined by the money one may owe to acquire an asset, an investment. It’s something that reproduces after itself to make more wealth — like a skillset gained that will keep on giving for years to come.

Here are some debt strategies wealthy people use to generate wealth:

• 🏠 Leverage in Real Estate: Taking out a mortgage to invest in property can amplify returns.
• 💼 Investment Loans: Borrowing to invest in appreciating assets like stocks or funds.
• 📈 Business Expansion: Securing loans to expand or start a business.
• 💰 Tax Advantages: Borrowing against investments to fund purchases without triggering capital gains taxes can optimize wealth growth.
• 🎓 Education and Skill Development: Loans for education or skill enhancement that leads to higher income potential.

Remember, leveraging debt for wealth requires caution and an understanding of the risks involved.

🚨 Comment "Toolkit" to grab my risk management toolkit for free to start taking control of your financial future. 🛠️💪 More

SUTRA: Reasons for getting rich

Are we all agreed that these five are good?

The Buddha: "Householder, there are five reasons for getting rich. What are they?

"... A noble disciple with riches through work and zeal, gathered by strength of arm, earned by sweat of brow, justly obtained in a lawful way, makes oneself happy, glad, and keeps that happiness; one makes one's parents happy, glad, and keeps them so -- likewise wife and children and assistants.

"...When riches are gotten in this way, one makes friends and companions happy, glad, and keeps them so.

"...When riches are gotten in this way, bad luck... is warded off, and one keeps one's goods in safety.

"...When riches are gotten in this way, one makes the five oblations [pūjā] to one's kin, guests, spirits, kings, and deities.

"...When riches are gotten this way, the noble disciple institutes offerings of lofty aim, celestial, ripening in happiness, leading heavenward [to the deva planes, akasha loka, sagga], for all those recluses and good people who abstain from pride and indolence, who bear all things in patience and humility, each mastering self, each calming self, each perfecting self.

"Now if the wealth of that noble disciple, heeding these five reasons, comes to destruction, let that disciple consider: 'At least I have heeded those reasons for getting rich, but my wealth has gone!' Therefore, one is not upset.

"And if one's wealth increases, let one think: 'Truly, I have heeded those reasons and my wealth has grown!' Therefore, one will not be upset in either case." (AN 5.41)

Author Kiana Danial

ABOUT: Kiana Danial is a three-time bestselling author, former engineer, helping people take control of their financial futures and accelerate their freedom with Triple Compounding. She is the founder and CEO of Invest Diva.

• Kiana Dufour signing with Southern Mississippi women's soccer team has internet going nuts (BlackSportsOnline)
• Groupie Tales Archives (BlackSportsOnline)

#financialindependence #debt #budget #credit #assets #financialfreedom #financialindepedence #millionairemindset #wealthbuilding #investing #money #savemoney #savings #financialplanning #retireearly #wealth #networth #savingmoney #invest #goals #finance #saving #personalfinance #debtfree #loans #business #financialliteracy #rich #investdiva

• Kiana Danial, CEO: Debt; Brazilian athlete Kiana Dufour (BlackSportsOnline); Ven. Nyanaponika (trans.) via Hellmuth Hecker, Anathapindika: The Great Benefactor, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Q., CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

If only the Buddha taught about money

The Buddha did teach about money, how to manage and grow it, in the Sigalovada Sutta below.

Temu.com has this cute wall decoration for my home decor (Emotional Pain Chart)

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How much haul of merchandise piles up.

It all started on Brown Friday, calling the plumber the day after Thanksgiving because, well, Americans consume a lot.

That was the first bill. Then began Black Friday wargames at the mall. Who knows what moves me. It's not emotions.

Today is Cyber Monday, so it's time to order what I really wanted but didn't find elbowing people in person. I can track it down and order online. Delivery guys in shorts need the work. It's alright.

Do marketers use our emotions to sell us on things, claiming we sell ourselves with their help?

Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday, when I allay my guilt at overspending and running up credit card charges (personal debt) I can't afford by spending more on giving money away. I call it philanthropy, charity...snacking. Dieting makes me crazy. I gave at the office, my home office, when I was trying to order shoes.

If only the Buddha taught about money

How our gold is chipped away

In the most important sutra for lay Buddhists, the Sigalovada Sutta (DN 31) or compiled "Advice for Householders Discourse," he does just that. He is giving advice to young Sigala on the best way to live.

The Buddha advises how to use money to become safe and rich. In a simple formula, one's money should be divided in four and spent to make more money, ensuring the future: Gather riches like bees who work pick up pollen. Riches grow like a termite hill suddenly piling up. Gathering wealth in this way, a householder has enough for family and holds on to friends. That wealth is divided into four equal parts:

1. The first portion is to enjoy here and now.
2. The second is used to pay off debts.
3. The third is used to purchase inventory.
4. The fourth is set aside as savings for times of trouble.

• Did the Buddha really care about money? As Prince Siddhartha, he was born rich and influential because his homeland, Kapilavastu (at the foothills of the Himalayas in a part of the range known as the Hindu Kush, Afghanistan not Nepal), was on the Silk Route. Many rich and powerful kings befriended him. His greatest lay-devotee was known as the millionaire (Anathapindika, Sudatta the Banker, his foremost male patron and supporter), who was worth so much money that he was a kind of Mansa Musa. The Buddha also had the great Ven. Sivali, foremost in receiving alms due to his previous store of skillful karma of giving dana. So money (gold, silver, cattle, fields, servants, property) was no object, and the Buddha had no love or need of it, having renounced all such worldly things, but his supporters loved it. So he taught them about making merit (punya) so they would always have all they needed.

Avoid wasting money

Well, I'm not really wasting money. I'm actually saving more the more I buy. The ad says so.

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[A penny earned is a penny saved seems to mean that we make as much money by not spending money as by earning it. Save up. How?] One is advised to avoid the “Six Drains on Wealth.”

“What six drains on wealth does one avoid? (“Drains on wealth” is apāyamukha, literally “openings for departure.”) This is emphasized since a good person wants as an heir to be a proper steward and not squander away the family fortune.

According to the Buddha, habitually engaging in the following things is a drain on wealth:

1. consuming intoxicants like alcohol (beer, wine, liquor);
2. roaming the streets at night;
3. frequenting parties and festivals;
4. gambling;
5. bad friends (companions);
6. laziness.

Alcohol?

The most common phrase in Pali for alcoholic beverages lists three items. Surā is brewed from grains and yeast (Bu Pc 51:2.1.2), meraya is made from sugars, fruits, or flowers (Bu Pc 51:2.1.4), and madya is a catchall term. Together they correspond with a modern classification of the potent drinks “beer, wine, and liquor.” See also Manu 11.94, Arthaśāstra 2.25, Suśrutasaṁhitā 1.45, Amarakośodghāṭana 3.6.

There are six drawbacks of drinking alcohol. Habitually tossing back beer, sipping wine, or guzzling liquors that cause intoxication causes problems like: (1) loss of wealth, (2) quarrels, (3) illness, (4) disrepute, (5) indecent exposure, (6) and weakened wisdom (liquid ignorance). More

• The Buddha sees a young person performing useless rituals and asks then teaches useful behaviors in their place. This becomes the most detailed sutra (DN 31) on lay Buddhist morality and ethics (suttacentral.net).
• DN 31: Siṅgāla Sutta (Kelly, Sawyer, Yareham) translation
• Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

Capitalism: Black Friday Poopy Brown

I can prescribe you toxic pharmaceutical Gila
monster venom, poison we call a GLP-1 drug

It's interesting, isn't it, how our English words "waste" and "waist" are homonyms? What goes on our waistline butt our excess? Why do we have so much excess that we have to carry it around like baggage? Could it be systemic? That is to say, could it be because of a system working upon us rather than the way we are told to think of it, which is just personally problematic? For instance, what does "mortgage" mean? You know that thing that will get you a house? It literally means "death pledge," because we make a "pledge" (gage) to keep paying until we die (mort as in mortician). There goes our whole life.

• We shop at ZenMarket.jp but Temu.com is next

There is a rebellious punk rock song by Deadly Reign promoted by the Dead Kennedys' Alternative Tentacles Records (a subsidiary of Jello Biafra, Unincorporated) that has the refrain, "Systems suck, system's f*ck*ed, systems suck, okay?" (from Not So Quiet on the Western Front). And the DKs have a song called "Life Sentence" about the way we've mortgaged our lives away.

Ohtani Day, Nisei Week, LA part of Japan?

Los Angeles is up on the right, way up

Nisei Week Japanese Festival just wrapped up in Los Angeles. Then the Nippon-mania began. Formosa (Taiwan) must be jealous. Player Shohei Ohtani came to the USA to teach Americans how baseball is played. The Dodgers bought him (price tag ~$700 million) to come make millions for Los Angeles. And, boy, is he ever paying off! He high fives his dog, Decoy, hits homers for the massive viewing audience across the sound in Tokyo, Waikiki, and up the way in San Francisco.

LA, like Japan, is in the ring of fire quake zone

Is there still a remnant population of railroad builders and Zen practitioners (Shinto worshippers) in that Central California concentration camp (Manzanar) from The "Good" War (WWII) when Japanese Americans were rounded up, interned, and deprived of earnings and property, dignity and freedom, due process and reparations. Forty thousand fans tried their best, stood in line for a workday, traffic jammed up DTLA to get to Chavez Ravine, and had a bumper party at this devotional tribute to the god/kami that is Ohtani.

• Buddhism in the United States of America

Nisei Week, during Japan Month, Los Angeles

Made in Japan: Not So Ape (shop now)

Nisei Week (二世週祭, Nisei-shū Matsuri) is an annual festival celebrating Japanese American (JA) culture and history in Little Tokyo, near Chinatown Los Angeles (DTLA).

Nisei means "second generation" in Japanese, describing the first American-born Japanese, a group the seven-day festival was originally meant to attract.

Though named for the Nisei generation, Nisei Week is no longer targeted at Niseis, nor is the festival still contained within a week.

It's time to be cool and go Everyday Zen.

Nisei Week Foundation President (2006) Michelle Suzuki described the festival as "the opportunity for people of all backgrounds to celebrate Japanese heritage and culture" [1].

Festivities are held over one month, though the main attractions are held during the primary two weekends of the festival in the summer heat of mid-August.

Nisei Week draws tens of thousands of participants each year from the Japanese community and Southern California area, mostly to its Grand Parade and specialized festivals. More

Shohei Ohtani homers on Shohei Ohtani/Decoy Bobblehead Night! | 大谷翔平ハイライト 

(MLB) Aug. 28, 2024: Japanese baseball great Shohei Ohtani does it for his dog Decoy! Come on down to Dodger Stadium to stand in line for eight hours to get a collectible bobblehead doll of this handsome man with a bad lookalike translator to sell in on eBay for, say, $5,000 bucks ($10,000 for a gold colored one) or now only $199 from a $40 ticket to the game (mlb).

• 🔥🐶 Shohei-Decoy Bobblehead LA Dodgers 🇯🇵🔥 | eBay

Long lines seen at Dodger Stadium for special edition Shohei Ohtani bobblehead

(KTLA 5) Aug. 28, 2024: Long lines of excited fans waited outside Dodger Stadium on Wednesday for a chance to snag a special edition Shohei Ohtani Bobblehead. The sought-after bobblehead features Ohtani smiling in his Dodgers uniform while holding his beloved dog named Decoy. Loyal fans of the baseball star lined up at the stadium hours before the gates opened, hoping to snag the coveted figurine before supplies ran out. KTLA's Kimberly Cheng reports on Aug. 28, 2024. KTLA 5 News, keeping Southern Californians informed since 1947.

• Details: ktla.com/news/local-news/long...
• Dodgers' Double Play: Yamamoto to join Ohtani (laist.com)
• Trying to find Ohtani's house with a Hollywood tourist map: 11 incredible homes hidden in Mother Nature
• MLB, 8/28/24; KTLA 5, 8/28/24; CC Liu, Seth Auberon, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit Nisei Week

Don't let the Devil know anything (Alan Watts)

Alan Watts via Cosmic Jokes. Text: Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma B Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly
WARNING: This Dharma talk might rattle long held belief systems of listeners! QOTSA knows:

 

Don't let the Devil know anything (Alan Watts)

(Cosmic Jokes) Alan Watts talks about karma (intentional action). Escape karma and you escape the Devil. But how can we escape it? The historical Buddha laid down the path. And many are confused by it, including Watts, by confounding what the Buddha taught and what Hindus, Brahmins, and the Vedas teach about karma. It is not necessary to exhaust karma to break free of the cycle of rebirth and suffering. If it were, no one would ever be able to do it, as each act -- whether physical, verbal, or even mental -- lays down seeds that later bear fruit. It's happening all the time. In one life, one lays down enough karma for a thousand future lives or more. It's happening all the time. There's no need to do more, as the number of future lives we already face is endless. This is the problem of samsara, the endless round of birth and death. The solution is calm and mindfulness, which yields liberating insight into the true nature of things, which causes the heart/mind to let go. When one really lets go completely at this deep level, an irreversible change happens. One glimpses nirvana, the highest bliss, and one "changes lineage" from an ordinary worldling to a noble one (arya), having put a limit on how much future suffering is possible. One may yet live for a long time, but now there is a limit. It will no longer be endless and impermanent (dying from moment to moment between deaths and rebirths). Those who say we must exhaust all of our previous karma simply have not understood the historical Buddha's teachings or Dharma. And it is not what any other spiritual tradition teaches -- not Hinduism, Brahmanism, Vedanta, Jainism, Christianity, or New Age beliefs. The real way to "the end of all suffering," which is what nirvana means, is the Buddha's 37 Requisites of Enlightenment implicit in the Ennobling Eightfold Path.

 

► Subscribe. Alan Watts was a well-known British philosopher, writer and speaker, best known for his interpretation of Eastern philosophy for Western audiences. Alan Watts left behind more than 25 books and an audio library of nearly 400 talks, which are still in great demand. Alan Watts's life advice will bring you to true freedom. Congratulations on your journey. #AlanWatts #Buddhism #Spirituality

Black Friday: Howard Zinn (Democracy Now!)

Guest Howard Zinn, Host Amy Goodman (democracynow.org), 11/25/22; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Black Friday in Houston is no longer the chaotic crowd we're used to

(KHOU 11) Nov. 25, 2022. Fresh off a dead turkey hangover, Houstonians hit the stores on capitalist Black Friday looking to snag deep "discounts" on consumer goods they don't need.. More: khou.com/article/life/hol...

But what if it's a killer sale? What if it's a massive discount? Then shop?

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"Debt: The First 5,000 Years" (FREE)

Prof. David Graeber (libcom.org), London School of Economics; Editors, Wisdom Quarterly

Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber (libcom.org)

FUNNY: Honest Gov't Ad: Trickledown (video)

Andrew Cheetham (HUMOR, davidicke.com, 5/15/18); Pat Macpherson (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

HUMOR: Honest Australia government advert: Trickledown Economics (Banking and Finance)

Credit and DEBT: first 5,000 years (video)

David Graeber, Sonali Kolhatkar (Uprising); MR; Pat Macpherson, Sheldon S., Wisdom Quarterly

Your money is mine, folks. You owe it to me in the form of work or credit payments.

David Graeber, professor of anthropology at Goldsmiths College at the University of London reveals the roots of our credit and debt system in his book, Debt: The First 5000 Years.

How have the concepts of "debt" and "credit" been defined in human history? "Debt" is synonymous with the words "sin" and "guilt" in many languages.

It is something we feel bad and ashamed about. It is a very real kind of "slavery." In English the word "addict" -- like the things we're addicted to -- comes from the Latin addictus, a "debt-slave" assigned and handed over to someone to pay off a debt.

Cash only, debtor. Thank you.

What does this mean for our current credit crisis and the future of our economy? Most people are in overwhelming debt by design. It is no accident, no personal weakness. Debtors are targeted into a kind of very real slavery.

"I owe, I owe, so off to work I go." And if I have no work to go to, there's poverty, crime, and for-profit jails and prisons waiting so capitalists can make money from my detention and trauma.

Audio-book of Debt: The First 5,000 Years (25%), PDF: libcom.org

• VIDEO: "Capitalism" the series

"Capitalism" (DVD series)

Ilan Ziv (Icarus Films); Mitch Jeserich (KPFA); Sheldon S, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly

Debt, slavery, imperialism, missionary Christianity, and capitalism have all been distorted to become the engines of unprecedented economic growth and social transformation.

With the fall of the communist states and the triumph of "neo-liberalism," capitalism is now by far the world's dominant ideology.

But how much do we understand about how it originated and what makes it work?

 

"Capitalism" (the DVD set) is an ambitious and accessible 6-part documentary series that looks at both the history of ideas and the social forces that have shaped the enslaved capitalist world (with many impoverished wage slaves).

Blending interviews with some of the world's great historians, economists, anthropologists, and social critics (complete list), with on-the-ground footage shot in 22 countries, "Capitalism" questions the MYTH of an unfettered free market.

It explores the nature of debt and commodities and retraces some of the great economic debates of the last 200 years.

 

The series was chosen as one of the ten best programs in France in 2014. Each 52-minute episode is designed to stand alone:

• Episode 1: Adam Smith, The Birth of the Free Market Capitalism is much more complex than the vision moral philosopher Adam Smith laid out in The Wealth of Nations. Indeed, it predates Smith by centuries and took root in the practices of colonialism and the slave trade.
• Episode 2: The Wealth of Nations: A New Gospel? Adam Smith was both moral philosopher and economist. But his work on morality is largely forgotten, leading to tragic distortions that have shaped our global economic system.
• Episode 3: Ricardo and Malthus: Did You Say Freedom? The roots of today's global trade agreements lie in the work of stockbroker David Ricardo and demographer Thomas Malthus. Together, they restructure society in the image of the market.
• Episode 4: What If Marx Was Right? Have we gotten Marx wrong by focusing on the Communist Manifesto instead of on his critique of how capitalism works -- a critique that is relevant and as penetrating as ever?
• Episode 5: Keynes vs. Hayek: A Fake Debate? The ideological divide between the philosophies of John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich Hayek has dominated economics. Is it time for the pendulum to swing back to Keynes? Or do we need a whole new approach that goes beyond this dualism?
• Episode 6: Karl Polanyi, The Human Factor Exploration of the life and work of Polanyi, who sought to reintegrate society and economy. Could the commodification of labor and money be as disastrous as floods, drought, and earthquakes?

Support Pacifica Berkeley (KPFA FM), the only free speech radio in the US.

 
"Capitalism" the series is impressive. It makes economics accessible through an interdisciplinary approach that explores the work of great thinkers, embedding economics in specific social, political, and historical contexts. The series can be watched as a whole, but each episode also stands alone.

 

The series features some of the world's top economists, historians, anthropologists, and sociologists, including Noam Chomsky and David Graeber. View complete list of storytellers.

Mr. Monty Burns, voted "most hated man in America" (The Simpsons)

Reviews

• "A captivating epic...a major contribution to economic and social reflection." —Le Monde
• "Offers a fresh perspective of the events and ideas that set the stage for free markets....comprehensive...Highly recommended."—Educational Media Reviews Online 
• "Brings clarity to confusion, makes complexities accessible, and produces a clear narrative of a system that seems opaque to most people."—Journal du Dimanche
  
• "Masterly...vision of the economic world." —La Vie

"Juneteenth" - Saving American Slavery

Ashley Wells, Seven, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly

Modern slavery exists around the world, particularly in the US (freetheslaves.net)

 

(JoyDeGruy.com)

Today is "Juneteenth" (June 19th) the day commemorating the liberation of American slaves from chattel or wholesale slavery to debt and wage slavery.

When human beings were abducted by the British and sold throughout their colonies -- particularly its biggest markets in the USA, much like imperial powers are attempting to establish all over the geopolitical Middle East today -- the world saw the rise of a worse form of slavery then ever seen before, according to Mitch Jeserich (KPFA, Berkeley).

Freeing US blacks (sonofthesouth.net)

Juneteenth was hailed as a great thing. Freeing anyone is the greatest thing. But what was really happening? By conspiratorial design or impersonal misfortune, slave masters' costs were simply being externalized. Their profits could go up if they simply brought their costs down. That is, why "own" slaves and have to feed, house, impregnate, beat, and otherwise tend to them when one can rent them by the hour (no minimum wage)?

Former slaves immediately fell into indentured servitude and massive debt as one sees today in modern forms of slavery -- sex trafficking in exchange for transport "fees" for those brought to the US or farm workers not being paid even a minimum wage for the most grueling work, housekeepers taken for granted and abused with little to no recourse to complain... 

 

A newly rediscovered slave plea letter (Annie Davis/theroot.com)

 

The Boss in "Office Space" (Mike Judge/MTV)

And then there's the lowly white office worker. S/he almost doesn't bear mentioning by comparison. But how does it feel to be a wage slave, in debt up to one's ears for the car, the clothes, the kids, the house/rental, and the prescription medications just to keep the hamster wheel spinning? And the government taking the first three month's worth with no actual legal or constitutional right to (according to former IRS CID Agent turned whistleblower Joseph Banister)? There were always white slaves, slaves of all colors. American slavery made it more about race than slavery ever had been.

The Buddha, diversity of representation (WQ)

Are there not slaves in the Buddhist sutras and Bible? Did not the great sages, the Buddha and the Christ (and their holy Hindu and Hebrew forbears), stand up and decry it? 

  

There was a form of slavery, a very ancient, one might almost say tolerable form of slavery back then. It does not exist today having been replaced by this mind numbing new form. In the past one -- without regard to race or ethnicity at all -- might become another's "slave" (servant) by falling into debt, but then only to pay off that debt or to see it forgiven every seven years during JUBILEE. 

 

And the sages emphasized how important it was to treat one's servants well, for they were no less "human" based on the privations of their socioeconomic status.

 

About Slavery: They are all around us today, 27 million... (freetheslaves.net)

 

(newjimcrow.com)

What we see in modern slavery is far more insidious and pernicious -- and getting worse not better.

In America, as two amazing scholars have been pointing out, we are suffering from "Post Traumatic SLAVE Syndrome" (Dr. Joy DeGruy) and "Mass Incarceration in the Age of [supposed] Colorblindness" (Ohio State Professor  Michelle Alexander). Far from slavery being ended in the USA, it now appears in more creative forms of oppression with nearly no one but the victims noticing.

In the 1999 comedy classic "Office Space," Peter is a normal guy in his 30s, with a new girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston), sick of the mindless tasks and bureaucratic nonsense he's subjected to everyday at his Silicon Valley desk job. To deal with his depression and endless orders from his boss, Mr. Lumbergh, he undergoes a change. He stops going in to work and does what many Americans only dream of doing.

• HELP! FREE THE SLAVES