The wealthy have always used many methods to accumulate wealth, but it was not until the mid-1970s that these methods coalesced into a superbly organized, cohesive and efficient machine. After 1975, it became greater than the sum of its parts, a smooth flowing organization of advocacy groups, lobbyists, think tanks, conservative foundations, and PR firms that hurtled the richest 1 percent into the stratosphere.
The origins of this machine, interestingly enough, can be traced back to the CIA. This is not to say the machine is a formal CIA operation, complete with code name and signed documents. (Although such evidence may yet surface — and previously unthinkable domestic operations such as MK-ULTRA, CHAOS and MOCKINGBIRD show this to be a distinct possibility.) But what we do know already indicts the CIA strongly enough. Its principle creators were Irving Kristol, Paul Weyrich, William Simon, Richard Mellon Scaife, Frank Shakespeare, William F. Buckley, Jr., the Rockefeller family, and more. Almost all the machine's creators had CIA backgrounds.
During the 1970s, these men would take the propaganda and operational techniques they had learned in the Cold War and apply them to the Class War. Therefore it is no surprise that the American version of the machine bears an uncanny resemblance to the foreign versions designed to fight communism. The CIA's expert and comprehensive organization of the business class would succeed beyond their wildest dreams. In 1975, the richest 1 percent owned 22 percent of America’s wealth. By 1992, they would nearly double that, to 42 percent — the highest level of inequality in the 20th century. — The Origins of the Overclass
Hence the worsening problems in Bangladesh, Thailand, Nepal, the Philippines, and the Middle East.
This is in addition to the "War on Terrorism" backlash in the wake of 9-11 with NATO troops in Afghanistan and in Iraq, which erupted with civil war in 2004 after the US- and UK-led invasion of 2003.
As well, the Occupy Wall Street movement and other movements which sprang up all over the world are a response to the super-rich and its control of corporations and governments.
Though we are loathe to believe the super-rich are controlling the masses, the truth is the masses are exposed to advertising and other forms of corporate marketing. News media today (newspapers, radio and TV in addition to the Internet) broadcast advertisements to sell product to consumers.
The masses == consumers
As long as the masses buy product, the super-rich make money, whether as business owners, CEOs, and/or owners of stock market shares.
As of October 2011, America's top 1% own 40% of the wealth. Compared to the quote above, the prediction about them owning 42% in 1992 was optimistic.
It turns out that the best ally for the super-rich and the corporations they own stocks in is the CIA, which supported Big Business interests.
However, this is hardly news. Consumer society is more interested in product, and the politics that are hard to sell involve war.
This is why the latest scandal involving the CIA is about a retired General and a military intelligence officer who wrote fan fictions about her hero.
For sex sells.
Updated: 20121114 2030
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