Daily Archives: June 25, 2013

06/25/13

Premeditation: Snowden Sought Booz Allen Job to Gather Evidence on NSA

By: Trevor Loudon
New Zeal

It seems that NSA leaker, Edward Snowden, deliberately put himself in a position to betray U.S. security secrets.

Snowden

From the South China Morning Post:

Edward Snowden secured a job with a US government contractor for one reason alone – to obtain evidence on Washington’s cyberspying networks, the South China Morning Post can reveal.

For the first time, Snowden has admitted he sought a position at Booz Allen Hamilton so he could collect proof about the US National Security Agency’s secret surveillance programmes ahead of planned leaks to the media.

“My position with Booz Allen Hamilton granted me access to lists of machines all over the world the NSA hacked,” he told the Post on June 12. “That is why I accepted that position about three months ago.”

During a global online chat last week, Snowden also stated he took pay cuts “in the course of pursuing specific work”.

His admission comes as US officials voiced anger at Hong Kong, and indirectly Beijing, after the whistle-blower was allowed to leave the city on Sunday.

Snowden is understood to be heading for Ecuador to seek political asylum with the help of WikiLeaks, which claimed to have secured his safe passage to the South American country.

Snowden, who arrived in Hong Kong on May 20, first contacted documentary maker Laura Poitras in January, claiming to have information about the intelligence community. But it was several months later before Snowden met Poitras and two British reporters in the city.

He spent the time collecting a cache of classified documents as a computer systems administrator at Booz Allen Hamilton.

In his interview with the Post, Snowden divulged information that he claimed showed hacking by the NSA into computers in Hong Kong and mainland China.

“I did not release them earlier because I don’t want to simply dump huge amounts of documents without regard to their content,” he said.

“I have to screen everything before releasing it to journalists.”

Asked if he specifically went to Booz Allen Hamilton to gather evidence of surveillance, he replied: “Correct on Booz.”

His intention was to collect information about the NSA hacking into “the whole world” and “not specifically Hong Kong and China”.

The documents he divulged to the Post were obtained during his tenure at Booz Allen Hamilton in April, he said.

He also signalled his intention to leak more of those documents at a later date.

“If I have time to go through this information, I would like to make it available to journalists in each country to make their own assessment, independent of my bias, as to whether or not the knowledge of US network operations against their people should be published.”

It will be very interesting to know at exactly what point Snowden’s communist friendly press man, Glenn Greenwald, became involved in Snowden’s plan.

06/25/13

Supreme Court Does Something Right – for Election Integrity

By: Arlen Williams
Gulag Bound

Thank God!

The Democrat Party, enemies of the United States of America, deceitfully manipulate and herd their voters to the polls over weeks, like sheep led to the slaughter — the slaughter of all of us.

When will the people that these political illegitimates (historical word, used in the King James Version of the Bible: “bastards”) target, understand the horrific degradation they are duped to suffer? How many innocent black children slaughtered in the womb will it take, to mention only one of the atrocities?

Then, there is the fraud they attempt and often successfully get away with.

The neo-Marxist “Democratic Party” has no virtuous place in our republic, since they are pulling Americans away from it, to tear it down.

In Yahoo News:

Supreme Court strikes down heart of Voting Rights Act: ‘Our country has changed’

martyr-signs-yahoo-voting

Image that went with the story at Yahoo.com

President Barack Obama and his attorney general said they were “deeply disappointed” by the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a key part of the Voting Rights Act, a cornerstone of the civil rights movement that helped dismantle decades of discriminatory voting restrictions in the South when it passed 60 years ago. The vote was split 5-4, with the court’s liberal justices dissenting.

The decision drastically scales back the federal government’s power to reject state laws it believes discriminate against minority voters, which include some efforts to tighten identification requirements and limit early voting hours at the ballot box. A wave of such laws swept 30 states over the past few years, and the Obama administration has aggressively fought them in court.

The president said he was “deeply disappointed” by the decision in a statement on Tuesday. “While today’s decision is a setback, it doesn’t represent the end of our efforts to end voting discrimination,” Obama said. “I am calling on Congress to pass legislation to ensure every American has equal access to the polls.”

Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act—reauthorized by Congress for an additional 25 years in 2006—gives the federal government the ability to pre-emptively reject changes to election law… (continues at Yahoo News)

I only hope what the court did was thorough enough — for the sake of black Americans, especially. (Key category, below in Gulag Bound: “Dumbed Down Citizens & Slave-State Dependence.”)

06/25/13

Egyptians strive to end Morsi era: Muslim Brotherhood frantic to save the Caliph

By: Ashraf Ramelah
Voice of the Copts

A mural of Egypts President Mohamed Mursi on the wall of the presidential palace in Cairo Reuters

Inside Egypt a tempest is brewing for Morsi’s resignation on his one-year anniversary (June 30)

Egyptians are united once again by the single yearning to rid the country of its corrupting force, Mr. Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, and, unlike two years ago, actualize the dream of democracy. There is a sense that something very significant is about to happen with both fear and hope intermingled. Revolutionaries, vigilant since January 2011, are today boosted by a motivated Egyptian populace of young, old, urban, rural, religious, atheist, rich, and poor in a fevered pitch toward removing Morsi from office.

A zeal for human rights will lead them to seize this moment and risk everything in order to achieve liberty for Egypt beginning on the one-year anniversary of President Morsi’s term next Sunday, June 30th. In anticipation, the Arabic press is filled with frightening predictions. Islamic groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) are restless, ready to defend their President and willing to incite bloodshed. Islamists threaten the peaceful Tamarud (rebellion) campaign aimed at Morsi’s resignation and point to a ready MB militia.

Once Morsi would step down, the Tamarud hopefuls (15 million petition signers) believe that the high constitutional courts alone will become the interim body to hold and cherish the promise of democracy for Egyptians in handling the nations operations (unlike SCAF upon Mubarak’s fall).

Tamarud campaign cites the 1971 Egyptian constitution mandating that an interim court selects a constitutional assembly committee. It will draft a democratic Egyptian constitution replacing the voided Morsi constitution followed by Parliamentary elections and then the Presidential, in that order.

Tamarud (rebellion) campaign with more than 25 chapters around the country

Without political or religious pressure of any sort, without cans of oil or packages of rice as bribes, a petition has been circulating among the public for the past two months by Tamarud chapter leaders and activists which has already received more signatures than Morsi received in votes (13 million) gained by massive fraud. With the use of this simple democratic tool initiating demands by “the people” along with a plan to gather and present it, the Tamarud stands in contrast to Islamist factions using the threat of violence as a scare tactic.

As the Tamarud exerts non-violent pressure on the existing power structure leading up to the day of reckoning, Egyptian state police circulate their intentions to remain absent from the staged protests (a decision not too late to reverse) in favor of guarding police offices, leaving protesters vulnerable to MB militia forces. Think Syria and Libya today.

Egyptian sentiment highly suspicious of America’s role toward the MB

Ordinary Egyptians, resentful of America’s interference in Egypt all along, “thank” the American administration for the anti-democratic MB-backed Morsi administration and cite America’s financial, military, and political support of the MB in its climb to power. Egyptians blame America for the “Arab Spring” media campaign as an invention to facilitate MB rise to power in Egypt as well as across the Middle East. They see this moment as no exception.

U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, in doing the White House bidding, met with a Muslim terrorist connected to the MB and President Morsi, Kheirat Al-Shater, a former Egyptian presidential candidate turned Vice-El-Morshed (vice-spiritual guide of the MB). The Egyptian Arabic press (Al Masry Al Youm, 6/17/13) applauds sarcastically the Ambassador for her support of the MB. Egyptians condemn her for working outside diplomatic protocol, and accuse the Ambassador of co-opting the natural order of events in Egypt for the upcoming “salvation day” (June 30) to achieve an end actively fostered by the American President. For the people, Anne Patterson is an irritant and much worse.

Copts in Egypt, who suffer endlessly at the hands of Islamists and the MB only to watch the Morsi government receive America’s funding, now endure the biggest insult of all from the American Ambassador in her June 17th overture to Coptic Pope Tawadros II. Approaching the Coptic spiritual leader with the intention of diverting Copts from exercising their civil rights (apparently on the pretense of protecting their welfare?) and preventing them from participating on June 30th, Mrs. Patterson in turn received this liberating response by the Pope, “it is the personal freedom of Copts to take part or not in June 30th protests.”

What was her motive if not to hold back a block of protesters and reduce opposition numbers in favor of the MB? Or was it to prompt Christian default of their commitment to Muslim-Christian collaborations and aggravate relations? Either way does not bode well for Mrs. Patterson. Imagine how disconcerting for the Coptic leader to receive the Ambassador’s attention suddenly now when a deaf ear from America to the pleas of Coptic persecution for so long has been the norm.

Dilemma for Egypt’s MB

Judging from street reaction, the majority of those who voted for the MB Justice and Freedom Party have withdrawn their support. When a burqa-clad Egyptian beats the windshield of the President’s limousine with her shoe, it can rightly be assumed that many more citizens are represented by this action. A public spectacle of anger and disrespect (Islam’s worst insult) carried out by an Islamic woman who requires her husband’s approval for everything automatically indicates her household’s position and the opinion of the extended family, which likely means neighborhood sentiment and so forth.

The worried MB monitors their level of popularity fearful that, if and when Morsi falls, their power collapses once and for all. Egyptians planning to topple Morsi understand the desperation of the gang of terrorists surrounding Morsi who with their militia are willing to pull out all the stops to maintain Morsi’s presidency tied to their power. The will of the people is complicating their picture for the moment, and they hope not for long. But no one needs to remind the MB that Mubarak lasted only through day eighteen of protests.

Even though America has shown its hand in favor of Morsi and the MB in general, America is still the wild card in the upcoming scenario and pending confrontation. How deep will America dig in to protect the status quo of the “moderate” Muslims in power? The answer really depends upon the degree to which America is invested in an MB takeover of governments in the Middle East region, Egypt being the most powerful.

What we might see next from the MB — a possible scenario

The Brotherhood’s optimal strike would create terror in the hearts of the willful Egyptian people through an orchestrated killing spree in advance of the scheduled protest on June 30th. With the aid of Al-Qaida and Hamas forces, the MB could potentially lead a bloodthirsty crowd from mosques after Friday prayers on June 28th to commit brutalities — spreading panic and a fatal blow to protest efforts.

The manipulative MB is expert at engineering events to deflect attention from themselves, the guilty party, onto a target of their choice – a technique suited to inflame Muslim-Christian sectarian strife. They would not hesitate to sacrifice government buildings and business offices in the process and sabotage police headquarters and army locations. At the same time they are capable of making false announcements of Morsi’s resignation and MB arrests to create confusion through deception.

What will it take for protesters to be successful in ridding the country of Morsi

First, it is important to see MB individuals for who they really are as well as who they are not. The MB members surrounding Morsi and running Egypt are not statesmen. Far to the contrary, most are men of ill-repute — fugitives from the law, convicts, and escaped or released prisoners – requiring a round-up and return to jail by law enforcement to complete their sentences.

Ideally, Tamarud leaders and activist protesters need to urge honest members of the state police and trusted army personnel to make arrests of high-ranking MB, known terrorists, along with MB militia members of the same background. Egyptian law enforcement must stand side-by-side with the Egyptian military to defend and protect the political will of the Egyptian people crying out for Morsi to go.

If this fails to bring Morsi to his knees, Freedom-fighters must then begin to stage prolonged street protests, peaceful gatherings in civil disobedience mode throughout Egypt, until, and only until, their goal is accomplished – Morsi steps down and the MB flees the country in a life-saving getaway. Egyptian protesters on the front lines of this confrontation face a fascist regime – parasitic, desperate and militant – but behind them stand all of Egypt ready to receive back their beloved country from the grip of the enemies of democracy, freedom and human rights.

06/25/13

MSM is Lying: Conservatives Are The Mainstream

By: Lloyd Marcus

During his sabbatical, a university professor wishes to come to Florida to interview me for a study he is doing on black tea partiers. He said he wants to find out why “you think the way you think”. Why do I get the feeling this guy believes black conservatives are a strange phenomenon almost unique as discovering a Bigfoot? This professor is flying all the way to Florida to actually meet me, an extremely rare specie, a Blackus Conservativus.

As believers in traditional values such as faith in God, family and country, conservatives are viciously attacked by the mainstream media which functions as enforcers, punishing all who dare challenge the Left’s socialist/progressive agenda. The MSM portrays conservatives as nut case extremists; Col. Allen West, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Ted Cruz to name a few.

Liberals decry as “kooky” those of us who believe that the institution of marriage should continue to remain as the union of one man and one woman. Expecting the president to obey the Constitution is also declared by Obama media sycophants and the mainstream media to be a bit nutty, mean-spirited, racist and extreme.

The Left, assisted by their buddies in the MSM, uses a very effective tactic to render conservatives politically impotent. They accuse us of being haters and the aggressors, all the while forcing every item on their socialist/progressive list down America’s throats. Conservatives who were simply minding their own business are branded the bad guys.

Conservatives are swiftly becoming an ever increasingly “silenced majority”; persecuted, intimidated and bullied into shutting up. Rush Limbaugh says our country is in the midst of a peaceful takeover. America as founded is slipping away daily.

Patriots, our only hope for restoring America as founded is to put as many true conservatives in office as possible. We take back America one candidate, one race, at a time. This is why it is so crucial that we rally around courageous conservative candidates like Steve Lonegan.

In an article about Steve Lonegan running for U.S. Senate in New Jersey, the author actually called Lonegan a “clown” because he is a conservative who vows to oppose Obama’s agenda. Think about that folks, the MSM says opposing Obama is crazy talk, a joke, acting like a buffoon.

The article considers Lonegan a clown for posting on his website that he will “fight Obama’s agenda in the U.S. Senate”. Lonegan sounds right on target to me. The article also said, “hugging the president” is the way to win in New Jersey. So according to this MSM hack, Lonegan should ignore Obama’s disastrous failed socialist/progressive record and simply give the (black) guy a hug.

Allow me to share a bit about the president the liberal author of the article wants Lonegan to embrace (give a hug): If Obama were white, he would be facing impeachment. We have unprecedented high numbers of Americans on food stamps and disability (http://bit.ly/14jVAXk); unemployment is through the roof, record high fuel prices and food prices. The homes of millions are financially under water. Our economy is on life support. Our national debt is $17 trillion which a Boston University professor says is really $222 trillion. http://bit.ly/119GanV Numerous high officials in the Obama Administration were caught blatantly and arrogantly lying to the American people.

Then there is the IRS scandal, the Benghazi scandal, the AP scandal and the revelation that Big Brother is violating our first and fourth Amendment rights like never before. Meanwhile, Obamacare is being exposed to be a financial, medical, bureaucratic and emotional nightmare. http://www.wnd.com/2013/05/the-obamacare-nightmare/

Under Obama, America is in decline. Americans are accepting the worst economic recovery since WWII as the new normal.

And still, the mainstream media continues to brand Conservatism which is rooted in common sense as being outside of the mainstream; calling us “clowns” and racists. They insist that Americans join their brain-dead loyalty to the first black president, succumbing to the hypnotic tune played by Obama on his flute – marching us to our deaths into a river of which there is no return.

Thus, conservative candidates with backbone like Steve Lonegan are vital to our cause, walking around with targets on their backs by the mainstream media.

The MSM says Steve Lonegan as the presumptive nominee means the GOP has given up trying to win the New Jersey Senate seat. Their narrative is that conservatives are crazy out-of-the-mainstream unelectable losers. It is the same spin the MSM put on Romney naming conservative Paul Ryan as his VP nominee.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Conservatism wins every-time it is confidently and passionately articulated. Ronald Reagan proved that. Suggesting that the GOP has surrendered the New Jersey Senate seat is yet another MSM attempt to dispirit and discourage conservative voters.

Steve Lonegan has the right stuff to pull off a victory for Conservatism and America. Legally blind due to a childhood disease, Lonegan is a proven over-comer. Lonegan is former director of the New Jersey chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a tea party group. Thus, Lonegan is one of us. http://www.loneganforsenate.com/

Steve, thanks brother for stepping up and standing up for Conservatism. We who love our country as founded are behind you 100% with our prayers and financial support. God bless.

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American
Chairman, Conservative Campaign Committee
LloydMarcus.com

06/25/13

Without knowledge of the past there is no future.

By: Wim Grommen

Current problems associated with the end of the third industrial revolution

Humanity is being confronted with the same problems as those at the end of the second industrial revolution such as decreasing stock exchange rates, highly increasing unemployment, towering debts of companies and governments and bad financial positions of banks. Every production phase or civilization or other human invention goes through a so called transformation process, a transition.

In this article I will use one such transition to demonstrate the position of our present civilization.

Third industrial revolution
When we consider the characteristics of the phases of a social transformation we may find ourselves at the end of what might be called the third industrial revolution. Transitions are social transformation processes that cover at least one generation (= 25 years). A transition (Source : Prof. dr. ir. Jan Rotmans) has the following characteristics:

– it involves a structural change of civilization or a complex subsystem of our civilization
– it shows technological, economical, ecological, socio cultural and institutional changes at different levels that influence and enhance each other
– it is the result of slow changes (changes in supplies) and fast dynamics (flows)

Examples of historical transitions are the demographical transition and the transition from coal to natural gas which caused transition in the use of energy. A transition process is not fixed from the start because during the transition processes will adapt to the new situation. A transition is not dogmatic.

Four transition phases

In general transitions can be seen to go through the S curve and we can distinguish four phases:

1. a pre development phase of a dynamic balance in which the present status does not visibly change
2. a take off phase in which the process of change starts because of changes in the system
3. an acceleration phase in which visible structural changes take place through an accumulation of socio cultural, economical, ecological and institutional changes influencing each other; in this phase we see collective learning processes, diffusion and processes of embedding
4. a stabilization phase in which the speed of sociological change slows down and a new dynamic balance is achieved through learning

Three drastic transitions

When we look back over the past two centuries, we see three transitions taking place with far-reaching effects.

1. The first industrial revolution
The first industrial revolution lasted from around 1780 tot 1850. It was characterized by a transition from small scale handwork to mechanized production in factories. The great catalyst in the process was the steam engine which also caused a revolution in transport as it was used in railways and shipping. The first industrial revolution was centered around the cotton industry. Because steam engines were made of iron and ran on coal, both coal mining and iron industry also flourished.

The beginning of the end of this revolution was in 1845 when Friedrich Engels, son of a German textile baron, described the living conditions of the English working class in “The condition of the working class in England“.

2. The second industrial revolution
The second industrial revolution started around 1870 and ended around 1930. It was characterized by ongoing mechanization because of the introduction of the assembly line, the replacement of iron by steel and the development of the chemical industry. Furthermore coal and water were replaced by oil and electricity and the internal combustion engine was developed. Whereas the first industrial revolution was started through (chance) inventions by amateurs, companies invested a lot of money in professional research during the second revolution, looking for new products and production methods. In search of finances small companies merged into large scale enterprises which were headed by professional managers and shares were put on the market. These developments caused the transition from the traditional family business to Limited Liability companies and multinationals.

After the roaring twenties the revolution ended with the stock exchange crash of 1929.

3. The third industrial revolution
The third industrial revolution started around 1940 and is nearing its end. The United States and Japan played a leading role in the development of computers. During the Second World War great efforts were made to apply computer technology to military purposes. After the war the American space program increased the number of applications. Japan specialized in the use of computers for industrial purposes such as the robot. The acceleration phase of the third industrial revolution started around 1980 with the advent of the microprocessor. By now computer and communication technology take up an irreplaceable role in all parts of the world.

Effects of three industrial revolutions

The first (and second revolution) transformed an agricultural society into an industrial society where mechanization (finally) relieved man of physical labor. The craft industry could not compete with the factories that put products of the same or even better quality on the market at a lower price. The result was that many small businesses went bankrupt and the former workers went to work in the factories. The effects of industrialization were seen in the process of rapid urbanization of formerly relatively small villages and towns where the new plants came. These turned into dirty and unhealthy industrial cities. Still people from the country were forced to go and work there. Because of this a new social class emerged: the workers, or the industrial proletariat. They lived in overcrowded slums in poor housing with little sanitation. The average life expectancy was low, and infant mortality high. The elite accepted the filth of the factories as the inevitable price for their success. The chimneys were symbols of economic power, but also of social inequality. You see this social inequality appear after each revolution. The gap between the bottom and the top of society becomes very large. Eventually there are inevitable responses that decrease this gap. It could be argued that the Industrial revolutions have created the conditions for a society with little or no poverty.

The third revolution transformed an industrial society into a service society. Where mechanization man relieved of physical labor, the computer relieved him of mental labor. This revolution made lower positions in industry more and more obsolete and caused the emergence of entirely new roles in the service sector.

Industrial revolutions and stock market indices

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was first published halfway through the second Industrial Revolution, in 1896. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) Index is the oldest stock index in the United States. This was a straight average of the rates of twelve shares. A select group of journalists from The Wall Street Journal decide which companies are part of the most influential index in the world market. Unlike most other indices the Dow is a price-weighted index. This means that stocks with high absolute share price have a significant impact on the movement of the index.

The S & P Index is a market capitalization weighted index. The 500 largest U.S. companies as measured by their market capitalization are included in this index, which is compiled by the credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s.

What does a stock exchange index like DJIA, S&P 500 really mean?

In many graphs the y-axis is a fixed unit, such as kg, meter, liter or euro. In the graphs showing the stock exchange values, this also seems to be the case because the unit shows a number of points. However, this is far from true! An index point is not a fixed unit in time and does not have any historical significance.

An index is calculated on the basis of a set of shares. Every index has its own formula and the formula gives the number of points of the index. Unfortunately many people attach a lot of value to these graphs which are, however, very deceptive.

Set of shares
An index is calculated on the basis of a set of shares. Every index has its own formula and the formula results in the number of points of the index. However, this set of shares changes regularly. For a new period the value is based on a different set of shares. It is very strange that these different sets of shares are represented as the same unit. After a period of 25 years the value of the original set of apples is compared to the value of a set of pears. At the moment only 6 of the original 30 companies that made up the set of shares of the Dow Jones at the start of the acceleration of the last revolution (in 1979) are still present.

Formula
Even more disturbing is the fact that with every change in the set of shares used to calculate the number of points, the formula also changes. This is done because the index which is the result of two different sets of shares at the moment the set is changed, must be the same for both sets at that point in time. The index graphs must be continuous lines. For example, the Dow Jones is calculated by adding the shares and dividing the result by a number. Because of changes in the set of shares and the splitting of shares the divider changes continuously. At the moment the divider is 0.132319125 but in 1985 this number was higher than 1. An index point in two periods of time is therefore calculated in different ways:

Dow1985 = (x1 + x2 + ……..+x30) / 1
Dow2013 = (x1 + x2 + …….. + x30) / 0.130216081

In the nineties of the last century many shares were split. To make sure the result of the calculation remained the same both the number of shares and the divider changed. An increase in share value of 1 dollar of the set of shares in 2013 results is 7.7 times more points than in 1985. The fact that in the 1990-ies many shares were split is probably the cause of the exponential growth of the Dow Jones index. At the moment the Dow is at 14659 points. If we used the 1985 formula it would be at 1908 points.

Constantly changing set
The most remarkable characteristic is of course the constantly changing set of shares. Generally speaking, the companies that are removed from the set are in a stabilization or degeneration phase. Companies in a take off phase or acceleration phase are added to the set. This greatly increases the chance that the index will rise rather than go down. This is obvious, especially when this is done during the acceleration phase of a transition. From 1980 onward 7 ICT companies (3M, AT&T, Cisco, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft) , the engines of the latest revolution were added to the Dow Jones and 5 financial institutions, which always play an important role in every transition.

Pyramid scheme
This is actually a kind of pyramid scheme. All goes well as long as companies are added that are in their take off phase or acceleration phase. At the end of a transition, however, there will be fewer companies in those phases.

Will the share indexes go down any further?
Calculating share indexes as described above and showing indexes in historical graphs is a useful way to show which the industrial revolution is in.

The third industrial revolution is clearly in the saturation and degeneration phase. This phase can be recognized by the saturation of the market and the increasing competition. Only the strongest companies can withstand the competition or take over their competitors (like for example the take-overs by Oracle and Microsoft in the past few years). The information technology world has not seen any significant technical changes recently, despite what the American marketing machine wants us to believe.

During the pre development phase and the take off phase of a transition many new companies spring into existence. This is a diverging process. Especially financial institutions play an important role here as these phases require a lot of money. The graphs showing the wages paid in the financial sector therefore shows the same S curve as both revolutions.

Investors get euphoric when hearing about mergers and take overs. Actually, these mergers and take overs are indications of the converging processes at the end of a transition. When looked at objectively each merger or take over is a loss of economic activity. This becomes painfully clear when we have a look at the unemployment rates of some countries.

New industrial revolutions come about because of new ideas, inventions and discoveries, so new knowledge and insight. Here too we have reached a point of saturation. There will be fewer companies in the take off or acceleration phase to replace the companies in the index shares sets that have reached the stabilization or degeneration phase.

Will history repeat itself?
Humanity is being confronted with the same problems as those at the end of the second industrial revolution such as decreasing stock exchange rates, highly increasing unemployment, towering debts of companies and governments and bad financial positions of banks.

History has shown that five pillars are indispensable for a stable society: Food, Security, Health, Prosperity, Knowledge. Transitions are initiated by inventions and discoveries, new knowledge of mankind. New knowledge influences the other four components in a society. At the moment there are few new inventions or discoveries. So the chance of a new industrial revolution is not very high. At the end of every transition the pillar Prosperity is threatened. We have seen this effect after every industrial revolution.

The pillar Prosperity of a society is about to fall again. History has shown that the fall of the pillar Prosperity always results in a revolution. Because of the high level of unemployment after the second industrial revolution some societies initiated a new transition, the creation of a war economy. This type of economy flourished especially in the period 1940 – 1945.

Now, societies will have to make a choice for a new transition to be started.
Without knowledge of the past there is no future.

Wim Grommen

This article was published in dutch in Civis Mundi (The Netherlands 2012).
Civis Mundi aims to promote a scientifically- responsible reflection on the foundations, ground problems, the establishment and functioning of our society in national and international context.

Director / Editor of Civis Mundi: Prof. Dr. Wim Couwenberg