[Peace] The AWARE S.O.A.P. Box

[C. G. Estabrook]

THE SOCIETY TO OVERCOME THE AMERICAN PRECARIAT /&/

THE SOCIETY TO OVERTHROW THE AMERICAN PLUTONOMY

- two cadet branches of the ANTI-WAR ANTI-RACISM EFFORT -

announce the institution of the ~ AWARE S.O.A.P. BOX ~ at the

Urbana Farmers' Market on Saturday 19 March 2012.

					~~~

Members and Friends of AWARE will declaim statements by Noam Chomsky,  
Glenn Grenwald, Chris Hedges, and others,

that further the mission of the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort of  
Champaign-Urbana, from the AWARE S.O.A.P. BOX,

by the AWARE table at the Lincoln Square Farmers' Market.

					~~~

Speakers Under Delegation from the Societies (S.O.A.P. SUDS) will be  
present and speaking while the market is open.

Come by and say hello  - and stay for conversation with passersby. --CGE

					~~~

'This could be a period of irreversible decline. For the 1% and even  
less -- the .1% -- it’s just fine. They are richer than ever, more  
powerful than ever, controlling the political system, disregarding the  
public...

'For decades, Citigroup has been one of the most corrupt of the major  
investment banking corporations, repeatedly bailed out by the  
taxpayer, starting in the early Reagan years and now once again ... In  
2005, Citigroup came out with a brochure for investors called  
“Plutonomy: Buying Luxury, Explaining Global Imbalances.” It urged  
investors to put money into a “plutonomy index.” The brochure says,  
“The World is dividing into two blocs -- the Plutonomy and the rest.”
'Plutonomy refers to the rich, those who buy luxury goods and so on,  
and that’s where the action is. They claimed that their plutonomy  
index was way outperforming the stock market. As for the rest, we set  
them adrift. We don’t really care about them. We don’t really need  
them. They have to be around to provide a powerful state, which will  
protect us and bail us out when we get into trouble, but other than  
that they essentially have no function. These days they’re sometimes  
called the “precariat” -- people who live a precarious existence at  
the periphery of society. Only it’s not the periphery anymore. It’s  
becoming a very substantial part of society in the United States and  
indeed elsewhere. And this is considered a good thing...

'So the world is now indeed splitting into a plutonomy and a precariat  
-- in the imagery of the Occupy movement, the 1% and the 99%. Not  
literal numbers, but the right picture. Now, the plutonomy is where  
the action is and it could continue like this.

'If it does, the historic reversal that began in the 1970s could  
become irreversible. That’s where we’re heading. And the Occupy  
movement is the first real, major, popular reaction that could avert  
this. But it’s going to be necessary to face the fact that it’s a  
long, hard struggle. You don’t win victories tomorrow. You have to  
form the structures that will be sustained, that will go on through  
hard times and can win major victories. And there are a lot of things  
that can be done.' [Noam Chomsky]