Europe?

[vgonis]

Justme, I've been having some peculiar ideas, about the distribution of wealth, that are a bit contradictory to ... recorded music. For some time now, I read one by one the books from a series called 33&1/3 by Continuum publishing, which catalog includes many of my favourite records, plus some other that I didn't even knew their existence. The last one I read was about the Radio city LP, by Big Star. (By the way it is a hell of a record, that I have been enjoying for the last 15 years or so.) This particular book was very thrilling to read, because unlike many others from the same series had 5 additional pluses: It was actually about the record (it seems peculiar but at least three books from the same series were far out ...of the subject), It was well written, it was by a fan, it contained many original interviews and last but not least it contained at least three pages of pure eye opening statements, heart felt confessions and insights that made the book, how shall I put it, - Personal. Now, all this introduction just to say this: The author had invited Chilton to perform at a local bar, with him and his band as the back up band. After the gig, when one of the friends of the author asked Alex Chilton, if HE had composed the hit "The Letter" Chilton turned to him and answered: "Do you think I would be here playing with you if I had written it?" Which actually shows where all the money in the music business were and are.
So the 1$ question is: How can it be logical and therefore fair, just or right for some people to live of one (or a couple) hit song for the rest of their lives? While I have been working hard for twenty years, and of course never will see this kind of money even if I live to work up to 150.
Also I was reading the latest issue of Record collector, and I saw that the re-issue business with 3,4 or even 5 different "anniversary" issues of albums, with uber deluxe limited editions, fetching 200-300$ right from the factory door, finally gets on the nerves of both buyers and critics. Apart from the fact that a collectible is not one if it is labeled as such by the company, the astronomical prices are pointing to a direction of absolute paranoia. Firstly, they issue them as collectibles, and as such they will never be played and enjoyed by the people that buy them since they are way too expensive, and probably they are waiting for the music "stock market" to go up again in order to sell.  Secondly, the extra items they contain are usually elegant rubbish, since they have no actual value in separate forms.  And thirdly and most importantly, I thought that we were paying for the music included and not the medium that is on. Of course the little fetishist in all of us desire the deluxe complete edition, so this has nothing to do with music, it is all about the desire of the fan, and as such it is an abuse of the desire. And it is really sad because they do not respect the fact that we are probably the last generation to be buying music as a physical item, which is the only way to sell multiple copies. Downloading may be the present, or the sole way of the future but it comes with illegal downloading, since there is no fetishism for the medium, and paying for music that you can get for free (even by breaking the law) is totally outrageous - when you think(OK there are many schools of thought, and I always buy my favourite music, even if they are rich, but I play the devils advocate, seeing the new i-pod penniless generation. ) Of course since the world economy is in bad shape, the conspiracy  theory says something about all the cash retrieved and hidden and this is a good way to do it. But most of the artists that deserve such editions are already multi- millionaires.
And a last sad story, EMI was sold to the same company that has Universal. So now, most of the recording artists that seek a good distribution, will be forced to   go with either them or Sony/BMG. How is that for a choice.
Thank God that European laws for copyrights in recorded music last 50 years. So you can listen record distribute or even sell all recordings prior to 1961. Maybe that is why the Beatles and other bands from the 60ies put out new remastered and extended editions, to restart the copyright clock.

[Justme]

Yes - that whole issue intellectual property is a big one. And I have to admit that it would not be appropriate if great-grandchildren of an artist could make a fortune only out of the artistic legacy of their ancestors.

Regarding mp3, I'm glad that there is a counter movement developing slowly just to celebrate the listening joy to quality music on a quality stereo, for example:[...music fans gather to listen to classic albums in full without interruptions.] http://londonist.com/2011/01/classic-album-sundays.php

I'm an occasional visitor of exhibitions where high-end stereo systems are being presented. There are always different types of people, some are technology enthusiasts, or vintage technology freaks, musicians or music lovers - just like me. It's remarkable that, in most cases, the most expensive systems don't appeal to me. The whole experience counts, the music has to move me in some kind of way.  And not some show-off fancy LED VU-Meter on a power amplifier.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against mp3 and compression in general, it is very useful that while you're in the car or during a workout you are able to carry hundreds of songs in your pocket. There are a lot of occasions where mp3 is more useful than a physical medium.

When I want to listen to music not for affusion but for clearing my thoughts, escapism reasons or calming down, there is nothing like listening to a physical and uncompressed media.

We are getting slightly off-topic here, but I have to admit I like listening to the Beatles. And it's a pity that EMI has been sold. Just another step forward to typical end-time-capitalism oligopoly (to use a word of Greek origin).  

[vgonis]

What a peculiar, almost beautiful (if it was for the best) timing all these changes in Europe and the world have. I mean, it is quite weird that all the bad things have a specific route and time frame. They bust your chops with journalists, throwing all the nasty news. A couple of hours or days later the government says it is not as such and suggests something mildly better and  then they wait for a holiday, national celebration or whatever to pop the new realities, hoping and expecting that everything will turn out roses for their plans.

Anyway I found this article from a French news paper. It describes the situation exactly. UNFORTUNATELY I DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO TRANSLATE IT MYSELF, HOPE Google translation service is good, I went through and corrected the big mistakes . For any problems, please let me know, to go through it.

 
"The 10 Strategies of manipulation of the masses" by the French  paper Le Grand Soir

1. THE STRATEGY OF distraction OF ATTENTION
The fundamental element of social control is the strategy of distraction that is to divert public attention from the important issues and determined by economic and political elite changes through the technique of successive flood diversion and insignificant information.
The strategy of distraction is also necessary not to allow the public to be interested in knowledge science, economics, psychology, neurobiology and government. "Keep the public's attention on secondment away from the real social problems, captive threads that have no meaning. Keep the public busy, so far as to have no time to think - back to the farm, like the other animals "(excerpt from the text: Silent weapons for quiet wars).
2. CREATING PROBLEMS AND later OFFERING SOLUTIONS
This method is also called "problem-reaction-solution." They create a problem, a planned "state" expecting a  certain reaction from the world and then announce the measures that the authority wants to pass in the first place. For example: Allow it to unfold and intensify urban violence or organized deadly attacks designed to require people safety laws and policies at the expense of liberty. Or even: They create a crisis in order to accepted as a necessary evil, the decline of social rights and the dismantling of public services.
3. STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION OF PHASE
To be accepted, the various measures without resistance, they do it little by little, in consecutive years. This way, they  imposed during the decades  80 and 90  drastically new socio-economic conditions (neoliberalism): non-existent state, privatization, insecurity, elasticity, mass unemployment, wages are not guaranteeing a decent income, so many changes that would cause a revolution if were applied once.
4. "Postpone" STRATEGY
Another way to accept an unpopular decision is to portray it as "painful and necessary," ensuring the consent of the people at that time and applying it in the future. It is easier to accept a future sacrifice rather than an instant one. Firstly because the effort is not paid directly, and secondly because the public, the mass, always has a tendency to naively hope that "things will make the future" and that the necessary sacrifices will be avoided. This gives the public more time to get used to the idea of ??change and to accept his resignation when it reaches the fullness of time.
5. Speak to the PUBLIC as if they were children
The majority of ads targeted to the general public using reason, arguments, personalities and tone of voice, all particularly children-like, often on the verge of failure, as if the viewer were a small child or mentally "lacking". The longer they want to fool the viewer the most they adopt a baby tone. Why? "If you address a person as if this was 12 years old or less, that the submission is likely to force an answer or response bereft of any critical thinking as a small child" (see Silent Weapons for quiet wars).
6. Use sentiments rather than logic
The use of emotion is a classic technique to achieve short circuit logic analysis and critical thinking of individuals. On the other hand, the use of emotions opens the door to access the unconscious and implant ideas, desires, fears, coercion or inducements to certain behaviors.
7. Keeping the PUBLIC in ignorance and in mediocrity
Make the public unable to understand the methods and technologies used to control and enslave ... "The quality of education given in the lower social classes should be the poorer and more moderate as possible, so that the gap of ignorance between the lower and upper social class is and remains impossible to bridge "(see Silent weapons for quiet wars).
8. Encourage people to be satisfied with mediocrity
Promote the public the idea that it is fashionable to be stupid, vulgar and uneducated ...
9. ENHANCING self-guilt
Make people believe that they alone, are guilty of misfortune because of the failure of their intelligence, skills or efforts. This way, people instead of rebelling against the economic system, devalue themselves and feel guilty which creates a general state of depression, which is the result of inhibition ... And without action, there is no revolution.
10. THE SYSTEM KNOWS THE PEOPLE BETTER than they KNOW THEMselves
Over the last 50 years, the rapid progress of science has created a growing gap between public knowledge and those who own and operate the ruling elite. Thanks in biology, neurobiology and applied psychology, the system has achieved a sophisticated understanding of people, both physically and psychologically. The system is able to know better "middle man" from what he knows himself. This means that in most cases, the system has more control and great power over the people, greater than that which they carry themselves.   

[Justme]

Hey, yet another insightful text. Thanks for that, I'm going to look into that in the evening.

[vgonis]

I get more and more puzzled each passing day, of how can a deeply democratic person can fight back the corruption of the political system using the tools that original democratic systems offer its citizens. Unfortunately what happened in the USA after the 9/11, is happening in Greece and Europe right now.  They have managed to pass laws that are hurtful to the people, reminiscent of dictatorships. Universities are no longer asylums for the freedom of ideas. Police can intervene without prior invitation from the Dean.
How about the power of information. How about the internet. What went wrong?

[vgonis]

Greek government is ready to sign anything in order to get the next bail out money. A signature that eventually will lead Greece into bankruptcy and Greeks without belongings or a country. A bigger still problem is that the fabricated gallops they perform (in order to manipulate public opinion) show that we will not have a change of politicians, because the system has not provided us with "emergency exits" or back up plans, without them looking like rebellion or treason. Any ideas from out there? Do the political systems of any of your countries have a safety regulation to avoid and change such situations?
I know that the USA constitution mentions:

Section 4 - Disqualification

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

but how can you prove it, bring them to court or even fight with the laws they have been voting all these years?

[vgonis]

Here I am 2 months after my last post. Just to tell all interested, that Greece is about to get ripped to shreds.
The new "government" passed the laws that were dictated by the EU, laws that will eventually ruin Greece, but they still won't provide the promised help, because they don't believe that the Greeks are going to accept them or put them to work. There is a paradox in there for those that are good with puzzles. Thank God there is only one more month of winter, the 30.000 NEW homeless people would die from cold and starvation! And all this happens while we were receiving help...! 
I am too frustrated with the news to write more, right now.

[Pottel]

Do you think Greece would be better of outside of the EU?

[Pottel]

I mean, what is your personal opinion. I did not mean this as a provocation.

[vgonis]

Do you think Greece would be better of outside of the EU?

Pottel, i wouldn't even dare think that you'd do that just to provoke me.   

If I had to answer with just a word, I would only say Perhaps. You see the problem is much more complicated.
It is plain to see that all the memorandums in the world can not help a country if they contain the wrong solutions.
I mean that there are certain things that are in the correct direction but the harsh way to enforce them , inflicts pain to the ones that were not the problem!

As I have written in previous mails, there are certain conceptions and mis-conceptions. In order to understand what I mean you have to at least accept that there is a possibility that we are fooled through the media, the government and the education system. All of them are controlled by people with different interests than the ones we have. You might call it whatever you want, conspiracy theory, the way of the world but the only thing that interests me is the results of it.
We have false conceptions about money and value, free market and pricing, democracy and parliamentary executive power, justice and   doing the right thing and many other concepts of the mind that actually influence our lives.
The EU was right from the start an economical union that should have stayed there. The treaties for a united Europe that were forced to the nations 6 years ago, were now proven how faulty they were.  (I know the Greek parliament voted yes, without asking its people, like Ireland did). Where is the help to a fellow country? There were solutions that could have helped Greece and stop the fall of the EU, back in 2009? Maybe they just helped their investors friends maximize their profits in the expense of the tax payers of all European nations. And now that they see how wrong they are, and that their political career is ruined, they punish Greece. And the worse punishment is allowing the media to turn people against people! To starve people to death. To take their homes, land, and production for peanuts. Why do they force Greece to sell everything, now that the values are at a record low? Who's going to profit? Will this help Greece and the people living in Greece? NO. Don't you think that the whole handling of the situation is strange? Saying we will help, and then creating trouble that ruin everything.  It is like they say, " We want to help you, but in order to prove that you are ready to be helped, we demand to rape you." Why is that the first memorandum forbids Greece from seeking funds from third parties, like China or Russia?
Why the fellow countries don't give a final solution to the problems with Turkey, Albania, FYROM? Greece's borders are European borders, yet we are not supported from the EU when we have problems. We can not extend our sea territorial control in 12 miles, which is the standard for all the countries of the world!  Who sells guns and army systems to all these countries and Greece? Why all contracts with major companies from Germany and France are still intact, when they force us to cancel all other contracts? Why the Siemens scandal is still waiting to be tried? Why do they suggest a Truehands' solution for Greece, when in fact Truehands was just a big cover up operation for the Western companies to take over the Eastern Germany business and shut them down in order to eliminate competition?
 Why do they spread lies, like the one that Greeks are working less, getting great pays and benefits and like to mock the rest of the world? These are lies. You should come and work in Greece, or get sick to understand what's going on. You get a very small sample of the population, usually the 10%, the ones that work in the public sector,  and extract results!  But even there you don't take into account that in this 10% they include the army officers, and with all these threats from our lovely neighbors we have a very big army. But lets see the private sector:  I have been working for 15 years, have a BA and a language diploma and my last paycheck (I am unemployed now) was 1020 Euros for at least 8 hours of work.  With the new pay cuts that is going to drop to 800 and as I predict even less, since finding ancient coins in Greece is easier than finding a job or a Euro. The minimum wage was set to 540 Euros, and if you are under 25 years old, half of it!   Mean while the food cost has tripled since we entered the Euro and the housing is as high as it was in 2003! We can not afford to buy the food that is produced in Greece, and we are forced to buy lower quality food from poorer countries! If that is free market, law of supply and demand, it is simply ridiculous. And how about the neo liberal thinking that has infected the EU? They say that market will regulate itself, but they are giving money to the farmers to destroy crops, to stop producing certain goods. Why is that? If the free market was working, the farmers would have stopped growing any goods that they wouldn't be able to sell. From the 90ies we were paying a fine to EU for producing more fresh milk than we were allowed. We were forced to import milk from Holland, France and Germany, when we had our own! People were forced to close their stables, get rid of the farms and cows. Now they allow it, but it is very hard under these circumstances, and of course it is always most difficult to start something from scratch that continue a ready business.
I still wonder why they talk and now seem to trust the same politicians that brought Greece to this state. Why don't they join forces to eliminate the international tax evaders, but instead they pass laws that encourage these people? They call them "laws for development".  Why most of the central banks of the world (including Greece's) are private?

Of course, I am the first to admit that  some Greeks are no saints. Greece through its legal representatives ( the democracy illusion concept I was telling you about) made wrong choices, but I wonder if they were judgment mistakes or following a plan, because 30 years or mistakes is quite peculiar. Right from the start it was plain to see that the bigger countries would always try and succeed to get their way. We should have said no to many things, do not accept any kind of funding, because the rules and laws that came with them were harsh for countries the size of Greece, impossible to keep. We were destined to fail, I am convinced that  Dire straits sung setting me  up only for us! It is the new way to create colonies! No guns, but still people's lives are on the line.

I don't really like to runt like this. It is a monologue and I would like some feedback. Maybe you were not asking this. And be sure, I represent a minority of people. I have never voted for any political parties that entered the parliament. I don't believe in Capitalism or communism or any other system-ideology. I believe in the value of human life and  ecology. I believe that this planet produces enough for everybody and it is only greed that leads people to starvation, illnesses and wars. Just thing that people in Africa (and now in the local colony Greece) are dieing of hunger, not because there is a shortage of food and medicine, but because they can not afford it! The law of supply and demand is not valid when you can store or destroy the goods, just to gain more money! The national wealth of all these countries is stolen, with the aid of dictatorships, monopolies and (yes you figured it) loans!

Here it is to the new world order! They let it happen to Greece today, and tomorrow it is Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, France, England and Germany. Maybe they ways of control will be different, but the result is going to be the same.

So the question is which countries benefit from being in the EU and keeping the rest in? And for how long? The first thing is to find out the right questions to ask and tell them apart from any Pseudo - dilemmas.     

I will certainly like to hear from any of you. The different perspectives and an honest dialog leads to the truth.

[Pottel]

don't think the greek criminal tax evaders, or politicians, or the ones illegally profiting from wellfare are any different then the ones in any other EU country. also do not think that there are any more of it then anywhere else.
think it is just a case of bad luck, and once the hedge fund suckers smelled blood they were all over it. actually making shitloads of money on greece bleeding to death. feel sorry for you VG.
hope we can still work this out at some point.

[vgonis]

Eloquently put, Pottel! As I mentioned in my post, simple people trying to make a living and be productive are the same in every country of the world. I can only sympathize with the German, French, Spaniard, Italian and even the Turk. They want peace and quite. But when ideologies , and recent events fire up the old passions, it is only "natural" that politicians will use them to create diversions.
Yes they drink our blood, but they live on this planet. Some countries protect them, their fortunes and their nasty ways, because they get their share ( or the corrupt politicians. both reasons are inhumane) . There is a big problem - misconception about value-money and the distribution of wealth. Society changes so rapidly that the sociologists, economists, psychologists and many other humanitarian sciences can't keep up, can't predict can't help. Only stand there and watch. Watch and record like historians.
It is no secret that with new technologies, the productive work can be done with only the 20% of the global work force. I wonder if the war of the ideologies and mis-information, is here only in order to lead the rest of the people to accept the fact and lay down and wait to die peacefully.

I am very curious about the results of the next national elections in all the countries of Europe. Will the new left rise and try to give a humanitarian solution, or will we face the atrocities of the new right?   

[Fletch]

From my ignorant/uneducated mind, it seems that bankers are forcing the Greek people into an unprecedented lower standard of living. I'd like to understand how all this was caused, but maybe there are no simple answers to that question.
No amount of understanding however will alleviate the innocent han suffering.

[vgonis]

Fletch, indeed money were given to Greece. As funds for development and as loans. Unfortunately the political favoritism was so strong that all the money ended up only in the pockets of the faithful few. Many big public works (roads, bridges, buildings, medicine and lets not forget the 2004 olynpic games.) As a smoke screen and a way to share the burden of guilt, they threw some money to everybody in the public sector, farmers and businessman friends. The bigger part of the population was left to find its way through red tape, thousands of new laws, loop holes and exceptions, and the ones that were trying to do everything legally and by the book were in fact PUNISHED! They had to pay for everybody else and this rendered their business less competitive. The worse thing A.Papandreou did to Greece, is change the perception of value and money of many Greeks, in order to have a broad basis of voters that elected and gave him the power 3 times and if you think of it, in a way exonerate him in 1989-1990 of all charges. (this happened because the three powers of democracy, had become only ONE!, and because the basis of PASOK in 1989 was so broad and the other political party had being smirked as being collaborators of the recent dictatorship, that strikes and marches were everyday news.)
 
So, I believe, we shouldn't have accepted the money in the first place, because the laws and rules that came with them were not suitable for Greece, we had no power to change them, and the corruption of the governments was so big that the money would be wasted. But the same people that wasted the money are the ones that promise to get us out of trouble. The ones that ripped us off (money and chances) now promise to save us by ripping off what ever savings we have. And they do it blindly, with heavy taxation, taking money mainly from the poor, like it is their fault.  I wouldn't mind if the justice did its job and punished the thieves and traitors.  

[Fletch]

So what happens now VG? Will Greece default? Will the youth flee the country? Will your country be forcibly reduced into an economic backwater? Is there any chance Turkey will take military advantage of the situation (would they want to)?

You said you are unemployed now? If its not too personal, how do you see this affecting your short/medium term future?