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shift from the old, ingrained, rugged individualist paradigm?
You know, that pick yourself up by your bootstraps, sorta' Western Zen paradox? Work hard, play by the rules, do the right thing and work even harder and you too can make it, live the good life, even be wealthy.
Oh, and there were several examples of the "self-made", (who relied on exploiting the labor and talent of many, many others) held up high for all to see. The funny thing is that that inculcated, financial ideology worked exactly like pyramid schemes, (like selling vitamins or getting referrals) in that they hold-up the founders or early entrants as examples of just how great the scheme will work for you if you are loyal, persistent and make the sacrifices implied.
Well, now it is time to shift that paradigm in our own perspectives and maps of reality. While it is one thing to respect ownership, (even when you are being owned?) and property, it is another thing to pay more attention to the source of wealth and just who is involved in its creation and accumulation.
The wealth of the few did not come out of thin air. It is either a part of their inheritance of previous exploitations or the result of having power over others and exploiting profits from others. That, in turn concentrates more power in the hands of those who own and control.
In that case, that wealth and power came from us. It is, in part ours. We are not reaping anything in the way of profits upon our personal investments in the general sense. Yet, we, (when our government works FOR us) pay for and provide the infrastructure labor and purchasing power that enables multinational corporations to exist and profit.
This equation is out of balance now and we all know that the stakes are getting so very high that almost everything about our collective future rests in the balance.
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