Beyond The Lawn-Objective of OLA: Separation of Wealth and State
Objective of OLA: Separation of Wealth and State
Submitted by OLA Web Team on Thu, 12/08/2011 - 7:40pm
Objective of OLA: Separation of Wealth and State
A major objective of OLA is to achieve the separation of wealth and state and to redress and resolve grievances related to the abuse of economic power. The current situation has merged wealth and state so that he who has the gold makes the rules. Wealth is the new sovereign as private corporate banks and large corporations have a dominating influence on our government. Excessive and unaccountable concentration of economic power in the hands of the very few has fueled massive system-wide corruption and fraud and has allowed the system itself to be structured in favor of the 1%.Examples of this abuse include:
- The financial industry orchestrated legislation that led to rampant income inequality, socially destructive decision making, fraud and injustice.
- Credit rating agencies worked in collusion with the big banks to pass off toxic assets as highest-grade investments.
- Fund managers gambled with the capital of mortgages and pension funds, putting those funds at undue risk.
- Major financial institutions such as the Federal Reserve operate without transparency or accountability. Only by a single forced partial audit did we discover that the Fed gave $16 trillion at 0% interest to bailout banks all over the world during the latest crisis.
- Lenders used fraud as a business model to create a system that guaranteed record profits and bonuses, while leaving a scorched earth of foreclosures and underwater mortgages.
- Those who devised and implemented the massive fraud have so far escaped prosecution. Civil and criminal penalties have been token or non-existent.
- Corporate executives whose contribution to society, and to their own companies, has been massively negative continue to receive exorbitant bonuses.
The economic catastrophe that has resulted from these abuses has plunged the people of America into a plight unparalleled since the Great Depression. Examples include:
- Savings, pension funds and other social nets have been obliterated.
- Millions of people have defaulted on loans and millions of families are being kicked out of their homes through fraud-ridden foreclosures.
- Millions of Americans have lost their jobs and livelihoods creating great personal hardships, hopelessness and stress.
- Income inequality has increased astronomically — the current staggering disparity surpasses even levels seen during the Great Depression.
The financial industry through its dominance of the political and economic life of the nation executed a massive theft of private and public money. This historic crime of grand larceny and fraud must not be swept under the rug of history. It must be addressed, corrected and prevented from recurring.
As long as the financial industry and the monetary system are manipulated and devised to the distinct benefit of the 1%, we cannot hope to have a fair and just society.
The American people, like people around the world, require an economy and financial industry that is just, free from fraud, adheres to the rule of law, and is transparent and accountable to ALL the people. To that end, we require a separation of wealth and state.