Representatives of 20 of the alleged developed economies, they are instead representatives of casino capitalism, the use, misuse and grand-theft of public wealth, to fund the bonuses of financial pirates which have looted the treasury of billions...If this is free market, then slavery was free labor! Only a bold, unified people's movement can put the people's interests before that of big finance.

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Listen to the radio essay here.

[col. writ. 8/10/09] (c) '09 Mumia Abu-Jamal

As the G 20 gathers again, they assemble amidst the wreckage of their own creation.

Representatives of 20 of the alleged developed economies, they are instead representatives of casino capitalism, the use, misuse and grand-theft of public wealth, to fund the bonuses of financial pirates which have looted the treasury of billions.

A few months ago, as they gathered in London, the nation's finance ministers talked about tax havens, but few had any real substantial solutions to the economic turmoil roiling in their own countries.

Much has been said about stimulus packages, and even of the enormous amounts of money being allocated for this purpose, but a modest amount has actually been spent, with the lion's share being devoted to boosting the very banks and businesses that created this disaster.

And while banks and billionaires have been rewarded for their insatiable greed, average people, working people, families struggling in the worst economic environment since the 1930's, are on their own. Millions are jobless. Many are homeless. Many more are helpless.

And while they barely survive day after day, big buck bonuses are back on track at Goldman Sachs and other such entitles in the City.

Politicians, meanwhile, talk of a 'jobless recovery'. If there are no jobs, who can really speak of a recovery?

Wall Street is recovering-- but are you?

Even the French conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy said the economic disaster of last fall spelled the end to laissez-faire (French for 'let it be'), economic theory. Governments on both sides of the Atlantic are giving various stimulus packages to banks and businesses that looks an awful lot like life support.

If this is free market, then slavery was free labor!

Only a bold, unified people's movement can put the people's interests before that of big finance. It's going to take protests -- real protests -- to break through this vampire's bite on the wealth of nations.

--(c) '09 maj

Submitter: Hans Bennett

Submitters Website: www.insubordination.blogspot.com

Submitters Bio:
Hans Bennett is a multi-media journalist mostly focusing on the movement to free Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners. An archive of his work is available at insubordination.blogspot.com and he is also co-founder of "Journalists for Mumia," created to challenge the long history of corporate media bias, whose website is: Abu-Jamal-News.com