I wrote this in response to an article about the recent investigations into the graft by the brokerage houses and their relationships to investments banks and how they work together behind the scenes to bilk money from the public by selling stock.
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Wonderful stuff! Those that think an "insitution" -- like the stock market -- of one hundred years cannot disappear are dead wrong. If it is proven what we all know is true anyway -- that the stock market and the American public have been manipulated from both sides, and that the theory of buying nothing more than pieces of worthless paper in most cases has made fools out of so many -- then I propose the solution is to make ALL companies pay dividends or they cannot sell worthless pieces of paper! Once a company goes public, they receive investment dollars from the public, and they promise to pay certain interest on that money each year. The public can determine if the interest they are paying is better than what the bank or a government are paying. Just like a bank, they can adjust their interest payments, but they risk the public pulling the money away from them. They can continue to "offer" as much "stock" as they want, but the public always enters the deal directly with the company, and when the public wants their money back, it comes back from the company. This would effectively end all the passing around of worthless paper by manipulating people. You would be investing in the company, not a Ponzi scheme. The company that grew their business would be able to attract new investment money by being able to raise their dividends. Those that ran crappy businesses would lose their investment money and disappear eventually.
The Stock Market as we know it would cease to exist. CNBC and their clowns, the Blodgets and Cohens of the world, and most others in this Ponzi business would have to get honest jobs.
Alas, this would be tantamount to having a national sales tax that could not be manipulated instead of the IRS thievery. Or perhaps actual penalties for people who choose to drink and then kill someone (they might actually be put in jail instead of the guy who smokes one joint for recreation and hurts no one). Or every person who runs for a political office would be allowed one page in every newspaper in the country to share and compare their views and nothing more -- no campaign contributions, no campaigns at all -- let the people read what each candidate stands for and then vote -- no advantage to the wealthy, or the slick, or the crooked -- every candidate gets exactly the same forum to share their views and nothing more.
Yes, this would be a country run by common sense where all people and all businesses still had the opportunity to grow (capitalism), but they would have to EARN it by treating others properly. Yes, politicians would actually have to WANT to SERVE and not just be bought by their greed of money and the perks of the job paid for by the American "clueless" public.
It won't ever happen. You will see suffering and panic like the world has never known first. Then you will see one man step up to the plate with all the "answers". And you will see people willing to give away their souls just to be "safe" again. "When they cry peace and safety, sudden destruction comes". This last paragraph is for those that are not CLUELESS still.
I remain,
SOROS |
