On the Color of the Clouds

By JV Deacon

I have a problem. It is very difficult to talk about. But, I shall give it a try. I need to; I
think that my future, my sanity, and my life depend on it. After all of my forty-seven years
circling the sun with the rest of you, searching, studying, traveling, I find that I need you. I need
this help. I think by unloading my thoughts onto these pages may help me to get a grip on it. It is
an invitation to read, debate, and offer opinions; not to fight—there is enough of that in this
world. May be, by me publishing my rants and raves and bringing you the reader on this journey
with me, I will find what I am looking for and you in turn will find so much more deep within
yourself. I guess that I should start by telling you a bit about myself.
I have always seemed to have been a bit of an outsider. Throughout my school days the
other kids would think that there was something seriously wrong with me. I always seemed to
have a different way of looking at things. It was like I was, in fact, standing on the outside and
looking in through a window on society. I don’t seem to get a lot of the rules. I don’t get
“normal.” I did get the question, “What are the colors of the clouds in your world?” asked of me
a lot by my peers.
May be, it’s the fact that I had lived three-quarters the way around the world and all over
the United States by the time that I was nineteen. May be it was that in kindergarten I was
exposed to several different ethnic groups. Perhaps, it was that my step father was abusive
creating a very rebellious nature within me; a need to question everything. Hey, look, I could
labor over this for days and page after page, so, let’s just get started to show you what I am
talking about.

The Current Economic Crisis

All I see is article after article blaming the housing market for the current economic woes.
I’m sorry, but I see that as just a symptom. I see the same old problem as usual. In old, I am
talking since Before Christ; since the time of and before Gilgamesh. One of the problems you
can see as a constant throughout human history is that we keep doing the same things over and
over with very few changes to the scenario.
Since the dawn of recorded memory, there has been, as far as I can see, only one
economic system. Sure people have come up with fancy names such as feudalism, capitalism,
socialism, fascism, and many other isms. The only real, meaningful difference that I can see
between them is their spelling and pronunciation. Yes, there may be some subtle differences in
administration (how the members of a society are kept in line and what is available for whom)
and how much of the benefits and possibilities trickle down to the lower classes. Basically, the
biggest difference is what the controllers of the production assets call themselves—Shareholder,
Government, Et Cetera.
Regardless of what moniker a system is going by, essentially it is one group, usually
closely knit, living off the labors of the majority. From Ancient Times up to the latter part of the
eighteenth century, these groups that lived off the labors of the majority were exclusively known
as the nobility. In the second part of the eighteenth century, a major event occurred that shook
the nobility up. Local businessmen and landowners were tired of being held back from
opportunities or having to seek the approval and cutting in some spoiled brat on the receipts of
their labors just because of their status in society at birth. It didn’t matter how smart or able they
were; they had to seek permission from someone who was born into their position without regard
to how able or incompetent they were. With these feelings of resentment simmering below the
surface, events became violent quickly when the nobility attempted to keep the rest in their
place. Agitators started to appear on the scene and twisted what they could to rile up the general
population. These businessmen and landowners definitely proved they had ability far superior to
that of the nobility. They raised, trained, and equipped an army. They created a government.
They were even able to enlist the aid of other nobles. They fought and defeated one of the
century’s superpowers. They then created a government that had the potential to adapt and grow
with the basic idea that everyone was equal and were allowed to succeed. They did it by
motivating individuals to unite for totally intangible ideas.
The American Revolution is one of the few revolutions that I count as a true revolution.
To me a true revolution is one that changes the economic base. In this case the restrictions
imposed by the nobility to make sure that they keep their position while everyone else stays in
their, were lifted. Anyone who had the ability because of intelligence, vision, or just being at the
right place at the right time could build their own empire. Politicians, lawyers, businessmen, and
others quickly filled in the vacuum that had been created by ousting the nobility. Our founding
fathers should all have been awarded a doctorate in political science.
However, once the ball got rolling our society settled down into the same old thing; a
small group living a life of extreme luxury at the expense of the majority. In Several States,
slavery was the way of life. It was even proposed to enslave all non-landowners. With the Civil
War, came the second part of the revolution ending the institution of slavery—even though there
is an estimated fifty thousand slaves still living in the United States. It also was the birthplace of
some of America’s greatest personal fortunes.
The expansion continued westward as others sought their fortunes. This westward
expansion was also fueled by a strong influx of immigrants trying to find their fortunes as well.
With the increase of population—consumers, industry was able to grow and many others were
able to create their fortunes. In the late nineteenth century, you see the rise of labor unions.
Unfortunately, the rich and powerful were willing to enlist the aid of the majority to help create
their fortunes but were unwilling to share it. This sharing came in many forms such as creating a
safe workplace or increasing the wages and living standards of their employees. A pattern of
thought had evolved along the lines that if the worker hadn’t have been in the mine, it wouldn’t
have caved in on him, so, it is not my responsibility in the slightest. Some organizations saw it as
a money making opportunity to take advantage of their employees by making them live in
company housing and paying them in vouchers for the company store—hence the song “Sixteen
Tons.” There were violent strikes at several places. One strike occurred in a far off land in
October of 1917 that would have an incredible impact on the thoughts of the few who live off of
all the others. This strike had an awesome message that the average person, the laborer would not
be ignored. Shortly after which, women would get the vote and labor unions would be taken
seriously—wealth started to trickle down.
There have been a few visionaries who did share their wealth with the people who had
helped to make them wealthy. Milton Hershey reinvested numerous times in his employees and
their community. He had even built his personal residence next to his factory. There was one hat
manufacturer in the New England States, whose name unfortunately escapes me at the moment,
who created schools for the families of his employees, arranged social events, and shared in the
profits with his employees. Henry Ford understood that in order for enough people to be able to
afford his vehicles, he would have to infuse money into the working class and paid his
employees—the people who have helped him to make his fortune—an unheard of twenty-five
dollars a week.
In Ancient Rome, as well as many other societies before and after, the same situations
existed. There were families—the Patricians—who lived off of the labors of the majority—the
Plebeians. It was a system of where a few families were in powerful positions and were
essentially living off the labors of everyone else. The situation was simple. Most were farmers
who had to rent the land on which they farmed. The landowning families, which controlled the
Senate; the reason the majority of the laws favored them, would collect the rent. If rent wasn’t
paid, they would enslave or evict the renters. The farmers would borrow money from the
Patricians to pay for seeds or even pay rent while the crops were growing. They would borrow
money to pay for things the family needed while the men were away fighting the many wars
Rome had. In wars of conquest, the biggest beneficiary is the Patricians who would gain new
lands to administer over and more rents.
The soldiers were allowed to partake in the spoils of war; pretty much whatever they
could carry. Sometimes this would be a good haul and other times they would be ruined with the
death on severe injury of the soldier or there just wasn’t any plunder. They would simply fall
further into debt. As the working families—the ones who actually created the empire—fell
further behind and lost what little they had acquired, tensions increased resulting in several
revolts. One occurred in the middle of a war. The soldiers just quit and went off on their own (I
guess they figured if the government wasn’t going to work for them, why should they die for the
government?) The Patricians gave in quickly to keep their war going and created the office of the
Plebeian Tribunes who had veto power in the Senate. Another revolt involved the Gracchus
brothers who were trying to create a more equitable land reform. They were both murdered by
mobs that were incited by Patrician Family goons.
I could go on forever with examples throughout the ages from the tax rebellions in
Mesopotamia to the peasant revolts of the middle ages. Essentially, all we have is one group
striving to maintain control over the majority and living a life of ease. They did have problems
when they over abused the laborers or from their jealous competitors. There is one interesting
story I heard. After the ravages of the plague had passed by, Europe’s population had been
greatly reduced in some areas. The price of labor had increased greatly; a middle class began to
grow. The nobles were unable to pay for the labor and were faced with a choice of taking care of
their own fields and manors or else. They chose “or else” and violently suppressed the
population with their armies.
There has only been one economic system since the time of the Pharaohs. It has been one
of powerful families living off of the rest of the population. The biggest difference between
societies, besides a game of semantics, has been whether the rulers understood the old axiom of
“Not crapping where you eat.” Basically, if you take care of your factors of production, including
first and foremost labor, they will take care of you. Unfortunately, very few have understood or
even cared. I think that it is interesting that when our government ponies up the funds to help out
big business, which ensured that many top managers got their multimillion dollar bonuses, it was
called a “Bailout.” However, when there is aid set aside or programs set up to assist those who
have labored to create the wealth that the rich and powerful live off of, it is considered socialism
and considered evil; an evil that will cut into profit margins.
After millennia of the same old thing, here we are again with certain families living off
the production of the majority. No, I’m not saying that the people who start businesses and hire
others to help them make it grow are bad. In fact, I believe they do deserve the rewards of
creating something that is beneficial to a community. However, I do think that they need to
remember that the reason their business grew to the level that they are able to reap the benefits
was because of the labor that made it happen and the customers who chose to shop there.
But, back to the reason for the economic failure; as companies grow and do all they can
to increase their profit margin less money is recirculated through the local economy. I worked as
a manager for an organization that had a profitable year. This one store generated ten million in
net profit. That is ten million that did not stay in the local economy; it was sent to the corporate
headquarters. Now I know that some stayed in the local economy to finance local operations for
the following year, but the amount that ended up on the bottom line; leaving the local economy.
Let’s say that the amount to leave was two million. Unless other businesses are generating that
cash and recirculating it into the local economy, it is a two million shortfall for the local
economy. This is a form of capital flight. The shortage has to be made up through other
businesses generating it and retaining it locally. However, unless the main beneficiary of the
profits is spending it; it is still a form of capital flight. It is because the money is being hoarded
and is unavailable to the local economy. This is where banks come in by making the funds
available for use through loans.
This brings me to the next point. I have read that the top three percentile of the population
as far as wealth goes commands around two thirds of all income generated in our economy.
Since all expenses eventually end up as someone else’s income, wouldn’t that mean that of the
seven hundred fifty billion dollar stimulus package approximately five hundred billion would
end up as a bonus for the top three percentile? May be that’s why the economy is still plagued
with lay offs and foreclosures. When it comes down to it, a rich capitalist (for the lack of a better
word) starts a business. It generates the jobs. The capitalist may earn a lot of income, but chances
are that their spending habits would not keep a local economy going. It is the spending habits of
a lot of people that keeps a local economy alive and growing.
One last point; Harley Davidson recently was thinking of closing its local plant. They
wanted to move to Kentucky in order to reduce wage expenses. Pennsylvania went through all
sorts of negotiations to keep them in York. They were going to lay off all their employees. I
suggested that Pennsylvania should let Harley Davidson go. Buy the plant, Train the laid off
workers and help them build their own company. It could have been something new with a lot of
potential. No, they didn’t do it. They puckered up and kept Harley Davidson here.
In closing I think that if we want to fix this economy, we need to stop crapping where we
eat, reinvest heavily in local economies to generate local businesses—it is amazing that there is a
McDonald’s in every sizeable town throughout the world, yet it is very sad that there is a
McDonald’s in every sizeable town throughout the world—and help to create new businesses so
that we can let some of these dinosaurs die, and finally, I think that the economy would have
done much better had when our government bailed out the financial institutions, they should
have made them stop the foreclosures and at least restructure the debts.
We are in this together, Why can’t we start acting like it?