Hey, folks, I just read a fascinating little book, a series of essays by Gore Vidal....and you all should give it a look. It's called "The Decline and Fall of the American Empire", and it succinctly explains what has been going on since 1950 till now, how the USA turned from a creditor nation to a debtor nation during Reagan's term of office, how the 2 parties are really one party that masquerades as a supposed choice...and so on...

Very interesting! Gore Vidal was born into the rich elite. He was recognized as brilliant from an early age. He went through their ivy league school system. But unlike most of them he decided to break ranks and talk about what's really going on. As such, he is regarded as absolutely "outrageous" by the establishment and mass media, because he pulls back the curtain and reveals the Great Oz, who is nothing but a group of rich little men in business suits, the owners of 19 or 20 huge multi-national corporations. Are they a conspiracy? Yes. And no. Yes, because they share in a common purpose, which is to control government policy and thereby enrich themselves. No, because they are just doing what comes naturally to them anyway, which is to do whatever will most enrich themselves...so why would they even have to conspire? ;-D

Anyway, read it. I dare you. ;-)