All these institutions ...

All these institutions controlled by the “capital” class are manifestations of the advance of worldwide totalitarianism. In other words, it’s worse than you think. When ADAM SMITH wrote The Wealth of Nations, the world was in a far different mode. Nations, the banking industry, the control of resources were all certainly established but not on an international scope. Sanctions, blockades, and localized warfare were in the mix but it took the worldwide industrial (read technology) revolution to supply a worldwide reason for capital consolidation, along with the development of worldwide communication systems so companies, government collusion could be enhanced. Governments could and did begin to react to any political adversarial relationships in any region of the world that possibly hindered the advancement of their imperial interests. Imperialism, capitalism, colonialism rather than being mundane historical antiquarian principles became the basis for ethnic cleansing, genocide, and exaggerated manipulation of the worst mankind had to offer at a moral level. The economic strangulation of countries also became a tool to control. We are seeing it in the modern world, at least the obvious instances, such as Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, but the part we don’t see is the near majority of nations who over time have become indebted to the owners of every nation state. No nation is exempt from this much universal crushing of freedom, though freedom among nations is practically nonexistent, inside domestic freedoms are more like living in a glass bubble rather than actually living free. Freedom itself has suffered the most, because now freedom is more about any individual's desires than it is about the acceptance of other's differences between you and them. Taking away, hindering, and even hating the others freedom becomes a freedom in itself, thus full circle we come around to eating our own tail. The freedom of the government has always been the purpose of the nation state, whether it be kings, princes, strong man dictators or so-called reasonable Age of Reason aristocrats. It’s ironic that we the commoners of any nation come to believe that our struggle is to change the present in our favor against a system designed to make sure that doesn’t happen. Sent from my iPad