Neo-feudal USA: The death of democracy

From crime and punishment to the vast wealth and income-inequality gap, the rules are different for the political elite and economic nobility than they are for the common man bound to live by the letter of the law and brought to justice for minor infractions — all while political insiders, corporate charlatans and financial bandits are left free to rape, pillage and plunder.

What should have been headline news and met with outrage last Wednesday barely made the front page of newspapers or the top of broadcast news. Deemed not as important as the murder of a wealthy family who lived near Vice President Biden, or the motorcycle gang war that left nine dead, five of the world’s largest banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, pleaded guilty to felony charges for rigging the $5.3 trillion-a-day foreign-exchange markets.

Regardless of “brazenly illegal behavior” on a “massive scale,” the trend is clear: Despite a long track record of “breathtaking flagrancy” of stealing billions, the government, in case after case, gently hits banks with a slap-on-the-wrist fine — and not one top bankster is sent to jail.

It’s the same with whistleblowers and those who leak government information — more of whom the Obama Administration has sent to prison that all presidents combined. And when Washington insider, former general and CIA Director David Petraeus is caught giving his mistress classified material for her book, a small fine and no prison time result.

Cross the yellow line when driving, taillight out, don’t put on the turn signal, don’t lower the high beams, had one drink too many, can’t say the alphabet backward while standing on one foot… hefty fines and/or a handcuffed ride to the police station. Too poor to pay child support, missed a court date? Jail time.

Caught with a piece of crack the size of a kernel of popcorn, some marijuana, busted for shoplifting? Fifteen years in the prison industrial complex… or life without parole for the over 3,000 who committed non-violent crimes.

As with other articles and amendments to the Constitution that have been abrogated, We the Little People lost our right to have “equal protection of the laws.”

In neo-feudal America, the financial aristocracy and political elite are judged under a different set of laws. 

Gerald Celente is the founder and director of the Trends Research Institute in Kingston, NY, and publisher of the Trends Journal and Trendsresearch.com.