Tag: oligarchs

  • Billionaires are often squeezed by autocrats

    Billionaires are often squeezed by autocrats

    Billionaires who support autocrats have no guarantee that the autocrat will grant them benefits once elected. Having an autocrat’s ear does not necessarily last. It is quite common to see autocrats discard their supporters. “He who can destroy a thing has the real control of it.” Dune, Frank Herbert. This means that when you bring…

  • Restricting individual wealth

    Restricting individual wealth

    The Gracchi brothers brothers, Gaius and Tiberius, were tribunes, the equivalent of our deputies, and they wanted to tackle the problems of the time. The rich were few in number but owned almost all the land. As they produced all the cereals, they agreed among themselves to set a high price and brought in foreigners…

  • The richest 1% are at war with the rest of the world

    The richest 1% are at war with the rest of the world

    “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Warren Buffett – Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/123058-there-s-class-warfare-all-right-but-it-s-my-class-the “Terrorism is the war of the poor. War is the terrorism of the rich.” Ustinov Peter: https://www.grainesdepaix.org/fr/ressources/sinspirer/aphorismes/le-terrorisme-est-la-guerre-des-pauvres-la-guerre-est-le-terrorisme-des-riches What does this war involve? In France, as elsewhere, the role of national education…

  • A slice of the cake

    A slice of the cake

    It’s not going well. Purchasing power is melting away, the standard of living is falling, and doctors are less and less available, drugs less and less reimbursed, and so on. Pouvoir d’achat : ce que disent les chiffres… et ce qu’ils ne disent pas – Radio France: https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/la-bulle-economique/pouvoir-d-achat-ce-que-disent-les-chiffres-et-ce-qu-ils-ne-disent-pas-7969607 There is clearly competition for resources. If…

  • Cut out the middleman

    Cut out the middleman

    Four traders, suppliers of raw materials supply 90% of food for humans and livestock: Cargill, ADM, Louis Dreyfus Commodities and Bunge. They supply cereals, cocoa, cotton, oil, eggs, flour, meat, peanuts, rubber, salt, wool, chemicals and vitamins. The biggest of these, CARGILL, is the largest private company in the United States and controls a quarter…