But I wonder, is Kravis happy?

I would think it goes without saying that Mr. Kravis is a Bush boy ( under every Bush there is always some dirt ).

Believe it or not, I work for a company that was once part of KKR's holdings. We lived under constant fear of "restructuring" which essentially meant a pink slip or a paycut. These people see only pofit and loss... there is no human element in the equation. We rejoiced when they sold us to a company that realized our success was due to the commitment of the people working here and compensated us accordingly.

Mr Kravis personally is worth $5.5bn.

So what? Mr. Buffett is worth 10 TIMES that much! Why isn't Mr. Buffett the poster boy for greed? Or Bill Gates? Or Oprah?

Greed, greed, greed - it's killing the planet and every living thing on it.

May the earth goddesses remove us ... the carriers of this cancerous greed. Soon Goddess. It's time.

The problem is not greed. The problem is that the capitalistic system takes this naturally negative human instinct and institutionalizes it.

In the US we are unwilling and/or unable to to discuss and change the system that creates the Kravises, Gateses and Buffets. So, we are doomed, as we should be.

The problem is that in our collective childishness and fear, we are destroying human life on this planet to promote an ideology and system that only benefits a tiny minority.

It would be shameful, but we sold our human ability to feel shame long ago.

Have a nice day.

I don't know what to think of Greenwald. He seems like a guy who believes in corporate capitalism. He simply attacks those that are most offensive. I haven't heard him say that the nature of corporations or capitalism are a problem. Maybe he's just helping some corporate friends to take revenge.

I would be even more impressed by a documentary/agit-prop about one of the WAR PROFITEERS from the Iraq invasion/occupation.
There was one (name escapes me), a weapons manufacturer who, a couple years ago, gave a one-billion-dollar party for his daughter's mariage, with about 30 well-known rock and rap acts performing there.
These guys are the epitomy of evil.
Producing "daisy custers", cluster boms, phosphorus boms, etc. that will kill, rip apart, maim, disfigure, mutilate, traumatise helpless children thousands of miles away, while you get filthy rich from it and party away.
If that's not evil, nothing is.
If that's not obscene, nothing is.
Who will make THAT movie?

It's the idiot workers who buy into capitalism that make this possible. The average American is driven by the same greed and holds out hope that they, too, will someday have a chance to be rich and stick it to every one of their neighbors. How many idiots do you personally know who believe that a flat tax would be equitable? How many of them parrot the phrases that the rich "earned" that money and the government is trying to steal it? (That includes you Ron Paul supporters.) How can anyone possibly do enough work to earn $51,369 an hour? In all likelihood, anyone making over $100,000 a year is doing it based on someone else's labor who is underpaid.

Hey, wonder6789: Greenwald made that movie already. It's called "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers". http://iraqforsale.org/

The avaricious seek only another teat to suck dry; they have no thought for the dry teat they have ruined.

It's something that should have been cured when they were about two years old. The rest of us now pay for the sorry upbringing of the greedy few.

TruOrange...

For an answer to your question concerning why Greenwald is going after Henry Kravis instead of others (i.e., Buffett, Gates, Winfrey, etc.), take a few moments to view the following video link (www.alternet.org/blogs/video/). It should become quite clear within the first few minutes.

Great idea, bad title - the "war on" anything at this point is a conversation killer. Haven't we had enough of the war on stuff? And, what's that mean, exactly? Bombs on Bel Aire? POWs from Scarsdale? Gitmo - Belize?

Those afflicted with the greed addiction aren't an enemy to war upon - they need treatment, just like alcoholics and drug addicts and gym rats.

Enough with the war metaphors.

frank1569,

ditto to everything

Something similar here in Minnesota occurred this week -- the CEO of a major health care HMO (McGuire of United Health) "agreed today to repay his company nearly $600 million in options and other benefits he obtained in a questionable compensation system." http://www.startribune.com/business/12211606.html

The language is pretty interesting. Embezzle a small amount, or tell a small lie, and you go to jail. Aim REALLY high, and you can "agree" on a settlement.

The followers of Ayn Rand must be thrilled to see that their Philosophy of greed and unrestrained capitalism (laissez-faire capitalism) is alive and well. Of course most of those followers are not in the 1% that control 90% of wealth. Too bad for them...and the rest of us. Most of the fat-cats could give a sh*t about the middle & working class.

Michel Moore cut this scene from Sicko because no one would believe it:

http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/19529-michael-moore-cut-this-scene-from-sicko-because-no-one-would-believe-it

ezeflyer, thanks for the link. Having good friends in Norway, it was especially interesting.

Thanks again!

You're welcome. Why are Nordics so much more liberal and progressive than Americans?

"Why are Nordics so much more liberal and progressive than Americans?"

They're obviously a lot cooler up in the artic circle

Goner, I agree with you. It is the people who work for the corporations, buy their stuff, etc, we who are afraid and can't find another way to live. We all make up the human foundation by which the billionare's mansions are constructed and supported. As a society we are petty, we look to see what car someone drives, what kind of a home, or homes, they have, and compare what we have and don't have. Everyone ogles lame celebrities who are rich and make themselves look cute on TV. It's become our culture.

Keep in mind that severe social/power stratification is as old as so-called civilization itself. It didn't take a rampant consumer culture to prop up Pharaoh, Caesar, or a monarch.

We could be driven clear back to mud huts and slavery and, lacking organized response our part, we'd still be plagued by monarchs.

Chicagoboys:
I think you meant THIS http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/69840/ link. You left off the actual video identifier number, and the video had scrolled down the page. Thanks for the link though.

Finally, someone is naming names behind the golden curtain of the corporations.

Why is it that corporations have the same rights as a citizen? The people who invest in them already have these rights.
And, why do corporations get tax breaks, when their investors also get tax breaks?

This is so unjust.

We must educate and emphasize class struggle in the local neighborhoods, precincts and ,barrios. Coalitions must be formed between the various groups. Remember this country was born by a tea party.

Americans in particulal, live and think only in the short term. We hope to make it to where "they" now are.

We enter lotteries, we form (labor) unions and play the game
instead of cooperating in a civilized manner and making it best for all.

Religion, now called "Faith" keeps us in a state of fantasy.

Reality is not favored - let's hide behind the illusion !

WAIT FOR THE PAYOFF IN THE NEXT WORLD !

Grappa - You will never get attention using an old ploy, you have to hit the heart of all americans and speak with honesty, truth and conviction, and only then, can you hit the ball. Look at the film makers out there that are hitting the ball. They are nailing it and people wonder how do they come up with it. It because they use their hearts. Anyone can cheat. Tea party in todays language means someone needs to get shot to make a point. The landscape has changed.

Vote with your dollar, don't accept less.

Money and drugs have a lot in commun. Small or even homeopathic doses don't really make you addicted. However the more money you have the more money you need to still get a little kick out of it. The money junkies are and wonabee
junkies are partically to blame for the destruction of society's, the enviroment and the world.

The Titanic has hit the iceberg, however the party is still going on.

The problem is not greed. The problem is that the capitalistic system takes this naturally negative human instinct and institutionalizes it.

In the US we are unwilling and/or unable to to discuss and change the system that creates the Kravises, Gateses and Buffets. So, we are doomed, as we should be.

Right On, tj!

A little background music Conductor!
Age of Betrayal:The Triumph Of Money In America, 1865-1900

A brilliant reconsideration of the Gilded Age in America, when an oligarchy of wealth triumphed over democracy, when dreams of freedom and equality died of their impossibility. Jay Gould, the "Mephisto of Wall Street," never runs for office, but he rules. This was his time (and John D. Rockefeller's and Andrew Carnegie's), and this was his country.
At the end of the Civil War, with the rebellion put down and slavery ended, America belonged to Lincoln's "plain people." But "government of the people" and economic democracy were betrayed by political parties that fanned memories of the war to distract Americans from government of the corporation.

Synthesizing the research of a new generation of scholars, Jack Beatty gives us a fresh look at the "revolution from above" of industrialization that forged modern America. In Age of Betrayal, Supreme Court justices turn the Fourteenth Amendment's promise of "equal protection of the laws" to the freed slave into the shield of the corporate "person." The presidents of the Pennsylvania and Southern Pacific railroads engage in a bidding war for congressmen. A depression brought on by railroad speculation throws millions out of work, the hungry riot for bread in Buffalo, the homeless sleep on Chicago's streets, "tramps" are arrested, strikers are shot, and the nation's presidents avert their eyes.

In the 1890s the Populist revolt from below challenges the revolution from above. Entrepreneurial capitalism ends in the early 1900s, as 1,800 giant firms are compacted into 157 behemoths. God instructs President McKinley to invade Cuba and seize the Philippines from Spain; turning from liberators to occupiers, U.S. troops slaughter and starve the (Roman Catholic) Filipinos in the name of "Christianizing" them. In perpetrating this "infamy," William James cries out, "We have puked up our traditions"—revealing how these sordid decades had remade us.

A passionate, gripping, often shocking history of wealth over commonwealth—thirty-five years of American history in which we see the reflection of today's gilded age.

"The passion infusing Beatty's critical history originates less in the past than in the present; his indignation at the earlier age of betrayal shines through as an impassioned indictment of what he sees as our current one . . . excellent historical analysis."
-Chicago Tribune

"A thrillingly eloquent polemic, savage in its denunciations."
-Mark Lewis, The New York Times Book Review

"An ambitious and politically charged work . . . Beatty is skilled at connecting unlikely dots and revealing unintended consequences."
-Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post Book World

"Passionate . . . vivid."
-The Washington Times

"[Full of] clarity, passion, and a fine sense of drama . . . engaging, responsible, and compelling book."
-The San Diego Union Tribune

"Conveys the opinions and outrage of an essayist mourning the lost opportunity to create a fair and open society."
-Christian Science Monitor

"Readers will immediately be impressed by the range of subject matter [Beatty] can handle . . . [they] will also find a narrative that is absorbing in its detail and refreshingly uncompromising in its perspective."
-Boston Sunday Globe

"Illuminated and enlivened by its author's eye for the telling detail . . . stirring . . . a tour de force of legal analysis . . . relentless . . . this ability to hot-wire our history to the here and now is what gives "Age of Betrayal" its distinctive bite."
-The Los Angeles Times

"[The Guilded Age is] brought to life in this book by the author's political passion and narrative power."
-The Washington Monthly

"Well-researched [and] interesting . . . One of the most enjoyable aspects is Beatty's ability to write playfully without becoming saccharine."
-USA Today

"Angry and insightful . . . meticulously researched."
-The Daily News

"The NPR pundit's lively interpretation of the era should engage those interested in social and economic history."
-Booklist (April 1, 2007)

Jack Beatty is a senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly and news analyst for On Point, a National Public Radio news and public affairs program. He is the author of The Rascal King, winner of an American Book Award, as well as the editor of Colossus: How the Corporation Changed America. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire.

There's nothng wrong with capitalism, per se'. Problems more often arise from what one might refer to as 'capitalism without a soul' that loses sight of the relationship between the vendor, and the consumer.

When one or the other fails to adequately empathize with, or understand the circumstances that the other contends with, and act accordingly, then there is an imbalance, and eventually the market implodes. Transactions of any kind cannot exist in good faith, long-term, without trust and respect.

Heartless capitalism, and capitalism that embraces its market in a way that is respectful of abilities and needs, are two very different concepts. And free-market capitalism -can- exist, provided that it is conducted by persons who understand and appreciate the human factors involved.

Yes, we have institutionalized some of the worst aspects of our human imperfection; politicized warfare, human rights based on classism/stratification, or the 'luck of the draw' regarding where one is born/nationality, and 'capitalism without a soul,' as representative of the short-sightedness of unchecked greed that is irrespective of the lives and realities of those it preys on, failing to relaize that it cannot exist long-term without them..

But like all disorders or maladies, the roots are often relatively normal, and sometimes even acceptable. It's the excesses, and inapropriate timing or setting that accounts for most of the difficulties.

In that regard, I'd say that the greater 'enemy within' is the very human ability to rationalize those things which are inhuman, as being acceptable.

Just my .16 cents worth..

The greedy capitalists need to learn from the wiser, more humane economic systems like Cuba and Venezuela....and the old Soviet Union before they went commercial....

Greed and capitalism tied together completely. But as to the left. The center is basically what we have--liberals and progressives. The left starts with socialism, and we don't have enough of them to count. The left and even the center gets left out in this country. It's time to change that.

Apparently, humans do not learn - nothing has changed.

"When the Great Integrity permeated our lives,
freely galloping horses fertilized the fields.

When the Great Integrity was lost,
war horses were bred in the countryside.

There is no greater calamity
than acquisitiveness racing out of control.

Only those who know when enough is enough
can ever have enough."

Lao Tsu
Verse 46 - Tao Te Ching
written 6th C. BC

and this brings up the real obstacle in the war against global warming.it is the billionaires,the corporate and the substantially greedy that are the main sources of global warming and all the things that are truly the cause of the problem.the corporate and the greedy are not backing-off at all in their continuous contributions to creating global warming....because it would not be profitable.

As the Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, "But know ye this. That in the last days there will be critical times, difficult to manage. Because men will be, (among other things listed)...LOVERS OF MONEY...".

Good one Samski.

I'm glad we are finally realizing that the blame lands squarely on the oligarchy. And that it is madness to support a corrupt, exploitative system that grinds us into the dirt because of the highly touted but practically non-existent chance that we could ever become rich and famous ourselves if we only work harder...for the man.

May I observe that through the occurence of "unintended consequences"
we have enacted a system of laws regarding corporations that are truly psychopathic, and corporations hire lawyers to draft laws for lobbyists to trade to politicians for money and power that are even more psychopathic. If this makes no sense to you, dear reader, please Google the term Psychopath, and read the excerpt from Cleckley. I am not sure how psychopaths come to be, but I am sure they are responsible for most of the problems of the world.

It is the nature of the publicly held corporation to be psychopathic.

I am trying to say that the very nature of the public corporation is psychopathic in nature, and that laws have been and are created in furtherance of this end. I cite the recent restructuring of the banking and personal bankruptcy laws. I cite the laws that allowed the present "Subprime Mortgage Crisis" to occur.

If you watch the video link that ezeflyer provided at 5:41 pm, you are forced to conclude that neither greed nor capitalism is behind America's malady: the Norwegians might be somewhat more socialistic than the US, but they're still people with the same impulses as all people have.

No, the real problem with the US is that all 3 branches of government fully support the Corporacracy.

See for example this speech by John Bogle, a financier who regularly appears on Bill Moyers Journal. http://johncbogle.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/Georgetown_2007.pdf

I think there are several causes for the US's maladies as compared to Norway.

First, the US is an empire and empires eventually put most of their resources into the military and espionage rather than social development of their citizens.

In other words, the needs of citizens in the imperial heartland count less and less as compared to the need to control of subjects of the empire.

A global reward and punishment system (military bases, naval squadrons, client states and dependencies and a continuol arms race) becomes extremely espensive.

Second, Norwegian citizens experienced Nazi occupation, collaboration and a consequent plummeting of their standard of living.

After the war, many collaborators were executed, the ideology they espoused fell into disrepute and any future right-wing leadership cadre was lost.

Third, organized labor has much more power politically and within the workplace. Within many companies, workers possess a level of democratic rights unimaginable to US workers.

Fourth, related to the third, Norway is not so thoroughly dominated by international financial and corporate economic institutions as is the US. In fact, within Norway, economic units tend to be small to medium.

However, you must realize, Norway is thoroughly capitalistic as all nations are within the present capitalist world economy.

If the US did not regularly invade, intervene, massacre and murder millions of Third and Second world workers and peasants, the world hierarchy of production would eventually erode.

Norwegian workers would not be able to afford relatively cheap tropical food and beverage products, cheaply made garments, electonic entertainment devices, mineral resources, etc.

Unfortunately, the benefits of the elite come at the expense of the non-elite under capitalism.

The benefits of this global power pyramid go to:

1. The elite nations to the cost of the non-
elite nations

2. The elite within each nation to the cost
of the non=elite within each nation

The non-elite majority of world capitalism function in order to benefit the elite and non-elite of elite nations and to benefit the elite of non-elite nations.

There are always winners and losers in a capitalistic system. The laws of incorporation require that companies make profits for their shareholders. In order to do that, corporations make choices about where to cut costs.

Corporations with a humanistic philosophy tend to make choices that are better for their employees. Cuts come out of perks or golden parachutes for top executives. They accept a realistic salary reflecting their true worth to the company. Generally, the corporate structure is hierarchical, with the CEO at the top, so it makes sense that he/she is paid a higher salary.

Then there is the greed-based type of corporation that prefers to make choices based on how much profit they and their shareholders will make, only looking at the business structure on paper. They don't have to see the people, or how the company's employees are affected by the choices the execs make. These are often the companies that reward top execs with huge retirement packages, etc. For example, in 2006, Exxon's Chairman Lee Raymond was given a retirement package of $400 million, base on the $36 billion profit Exxon made in 2005.

At a congressional review, Raymond tried to pass off the high profit margin as being due to global demand and lowered supply. This may be true, but it masks how they managed to make such outrageous profits! Did they institute higher prices at the pump? (Actually, Exxon stations in my neighborhood sell crappy gas for the lowest price. They make more money from higher turnover at the pump. They also sell high priced CRAP in their food marts.)

But I digress from my explanation of capitalism. I'm done with Exxon now.

Other posters above have touched on the greed many Americans have, and the desire to elevate themselves to a higher class because they believe in the "American dream" of "If you work hard enough,... The more crap you own is one way to show off our status to others (an evolutionary trait, I'm afraid.)

I subscribe to RethinkingSchools.org, and recently learned about a new video that can be downloaded for free. It's called "The Story of Stuff" and it describes really well the linear path by which products are made, sold, and disposed. But we don't live in a linear world, so the equation isn't truly workable. "The Story of Stuff" is about the human and ecological impact of the products we consume.

The filmmaker, Annie Leonard, has made the film available online for free, at www.storyofstuff.com. It's only 20 minutes long, plus the website has numerous pages of information and ideas people can put into practice. You're not left feeling like shit because the problem is bigger than you; there are many small ways we can start to address the problem, as well as introduce these ideas to kids.

Another short film that can be found online is based on Naomi Klein's newest book, "The Shock Doctrine." It can be found at http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine/short-film.

Now, this one might really piss you off. One man, Milton Friedman, was attracted to the "power of shock." Anytime a war, or any type of disaster occurred, he found it was easier to make changes to economic policies in order to control society. When the citizenry is reeling from some shock, we're not paying attention.

Klein discusses how Friedman held a radical vision of society "in which profit and the market drive every aspect of life, from schools to healthcare, even the army." He advocated abolishing trade protections, economic deregulation, and eliminating numerous government services. Of course these ideas are historically unpopular due to high unemployment, inflation, and making life more unpredictable for millions, generally the lower and middle classes.

And this is the crux of Klein's "Shock Doctrine": Friedman and his minions were not able to advance their economic agenda democratically, so they took advantage of various events that produced shock to do their dirty work.

Remember shrublet's famous words, standing on the mound of debris after the towers fell on 9/11? "Go shopping! Don't let the terrorists win!" Many Americans couldn't believe that he could say such a thing, but this is the mindset of Milton Friedman still at work today.

Enjoy!

I humbly ask tumbleweed to challenge one premise that he/she might hold: CAN ANY political party exist, run by millionaires, serving billionaires, (whether they be in USA, Canada, Britain, Australia etc.) that DOES NOT wage war on the middle class and the poor?

Something to think about. Indoctrination by our media attempts to hide facts and blinds us to good logic, but we can break out of our mental prison made for us since our birth even though it takes quite a bit of work, reading, discussing, humbleness and so on.

Peace.

Very good posts here.
Someone mentioned
"How many of them parrot the phrases that the rich "earned" that money and the government is trying to steal it?"

---> and I just wanted to add this warning for everyone including myself: Please try be aware when we are repeating some idea or "fact" that we have been told over and over again by our schooling, media, cultural myths, and it is not anything we have thought of, or even examined carefully, ourselves!

The thinking has to go beyond left vs right, capitalism vs socialism or any purposely limited debate by the ruling global elites.

I would want to strive for 100% people of the earth being free to be what they were meant to be, not slaves working to make a select few more rich and powerful.

We need new thinking. New ideas. A new system. Not new violence and domination with just different names like capitalism or communism or fascism or socialism.

Striving for freedom is worthless unless we demand freedom for all.

Kavis is another soulless Republican! Until people wise up and stop worrying about their guns, abortion and gays they think are corrupting our children. People like this are going to get richer...richer...richer until they finally drive us into the later 19th century where robber baron's ruled. Making us a third world country. The Republican's are notorious for allowing things like this go on. We are already paying the riches share of taxes. I for one will never vote Republican again as long as they wage war on the middle class.