mr smith asks questions about the nature of wealth and how its manifest or not;

It is a supremely tragic irony that while the corporate media ceaselessly tout America’s soaring financial “wealth,” the nation’s true wealth — its social order — is fast unraveling.While we’re encouraged to cheer billionaires blowing a tiny sliver of their wealth on space tourism and $500 million yachts as evidence of “prosperity,” our media and leadership (ahem) seem to be mystified by the unmistakable signs of unraveling.

In my analysis, the social order is comprised of all the intangible social elements that serve to bind a nation’s people beyond their legal rights. The social order includes, but is not limited to, social (upward) mobility — the ladder to advancing one’s agency (control of one’s life) and opportunities for improved security and well-being.

The social order also includes civic virtue, the willingness to share the sacrifices of one’s fellow citizens for the common good in proportion to one’s wealth and power and equal treatment before the law, not just as an abstraction but in the real world of the judicial system.

The social order also includes the moral legitimacy of the governance system: Does the state (government) serve the citizenry, or is it the other way around?

Lastly, the social order manifests social cohesion, which is the capacity for shared values and purpose and common ground, all of which generate a concern for the well-being of other citizens and a willingness to focus on shared interests.

The Rot Starts at the Top

America has lost all of these elements, as self-interest is the only value, purpose and goal that guides behavior, starting at the top: How do politicians acquire fortunes in excess of $100 million (cough, Pelosi, cough)? Through public service? (Don’t bust a gut laughing…) How do billionaires gain additional wealth so effortlessly (cough, Federal Reserve, cough)?

The rot starts at the top and then seeps down into every fiber of the nation’s economic, social and political orders. America is now a moral cesspool, and “democracy” is merely the public-relations cover for a neofeudal autocracy.

Behind every PR narrative lies the corruption of self-interest. How is it that day traders now rabidly follow Pelosi’s stock portfolio and super-wealthy Federal Reserve “leaders” front-run the Fed’s policies to further enrich themselves while claiming the mantle of “public service”?

How does a child molester like Jeffrey Epstein end up entertaining Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, the Harvard elite and a veritable who’s who of America’s wealthy and powerful players?........read more........