housing sub-prime

The final version of Jaws dwarfs all the others. This new monster is eating towns up alive. This is not just a battle to the death; this is WAR! In the novel, Jaws, the monster was not really a white pointer shark, it was the property development lobby, which metastasized with the colonisation of a modest fishing town by rich people from other places. Developers drew power from the wealthy tourists and sea-changers. They took over the original fishing town for their own purposes and democracy seemed fatally wounded. Right to the point of the shark (the developers) trying to eat the boat (symbol of the fishing industry which had begun the town). Until an odd bunch of people had the guts to stand up to the big developers.

How many people stopped swimming in the sea after reading the Peter Benchley blockbuster of the 1970s, Jaws? Well you can stop looking down now, because there is a much worse enemy and it has two legs.

In the novel, Jaws, the monster was not really a white pointer shark, it was the property development lobby, which metastasized with the colonisation of a modest fishing town by rich people from other places.

Developers drew power from the wealthy tourists and sea-changers. They took over the original fishing town and the mayor listened to them more than he did to the citizens. The local police became confused about their powers because of this. People were encouraged to risk their lives for the sake of 'economic growth'. They shut up in case they sounded stupid.

Sound familiar?

Because the mayor's ear was tuned to the tourism and development business it was tuned out to local democracy.

Local government and democracy looked as if it was fatally wounded. Right to the point of the shark (the developers) trying to eat the boat (symbol of the fishing industry which had begun the town). Until an odd bunch of people had the guts to stand up to the big developers. But were those people really so odd or was the rest of the town in a trance?

Hard to imagine anything worse than that shark, isn't it? But, since 1975 the problem has got so much bigger. The monstrous cold black-eyed machine of 'economic development'; sub-prime species, which only exists to patrol the world in search of food for its disgusting and insatiable appetite is now so big that it is engulfing the world. Destroying whole forests. Digesting democracies in a single livid gulp.

Are you ready to stand up to the developers?

You will need to understand ecology, be able to think against the tide, and get your ideas somewhere else besides television and the Murdoch and similar newspapers, because all these media-sources are major real-estate marketers and barrack for population growth.

In an article published on Freedom Arizona, bankruptcy is reportedly racing through the US, threatening governments at all levels.

46 Of 50 States Could File Bankruptcy In 2009-2010

"There is a high chance a majority of the States within the United States of America could file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. There are currently 46 states with high budget deficits, Arizona being one of them."

"The ... State of Arizona has 90 to 120 days before they completely run out of money. After that, all bills and tax refunds owed to the citizens will go unpaid. ... With neighboring California on the verge of bankruptcy this year, many States will follow in their steps.

"Many States are already scurrying to cut unwanted costs, cut State-funded programs, raise taxes, not issue tax refunds to their citizens, and borrow money just to survive in 2009.

[...]Many banks — the same banks the Fed bailed out — are refusing to loan money to the States and their Treasury agencies.

At the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities website you can see that 46 of the 50 States are clearly in the financial red.

Freedom Arizona comments, "It’s very possible you’ll see the end of the United States as we know it. If the Fed doesn’t bailout the States when their cash dries up and the banks don’t loan them money, then our States will be left in financial ruin. This would be a tragic and unprecedented event never experienced in the United States. No State has ever filed bankruptcy, but it could be coming to a State near you this year."

"We are on the brink of something far worse than the Great Depression," the article concludes.

Canada, Australia and Britain are in the same ... um... boat

Unfortunately Canada, Australia and Britain have all fallen prey to similar population-growth-and-land-speculation systems. Spain has also managed to become the premier basket case in Europe due to its having abandoned its economy to the construction industry and now has 20% unemployment.

Land sharks belong in prison

We have to get rid of the property development lobby which is running our country and ruining our ability to democratically restrain such excesses. We have to find some real ecological heros. We won't find them in the traditional places. They won't be ordinary people. They won't be well-known. They will come from the outside.

We have to find or make laws to stop our governments from engineering population growth against our welfare and from serving our countries and citizenship up to the developers and bankers. Work that is necessary can be shared. Wealth can be shared. Sharks are just fine in the sea, but property developers and their hangers-on belong in zoos, museums and prisons.