71 Comments
User's avatar
James Nichols's avatar

This Article was a bit of an emotional shock for me as I have always been inclined to believe that Corporate America has been running the show for decades and has always maintained its position as a global leader in terms of its business model!

Ethan #VerticalWar Faulkner MF's avatar

James, I think I know exactly what you mean. I used to feel the same way. I thought they were powerful because they were ruthlessly competent.

​The real "emotional shock" is realizing they're not just winning the game; they've rigged the rules and bought the referees. It's a much uglier and more fragile kind of power.

​That feeling is a sign you're seeing the battlefield with clear eyes. I'm glad to have you in the forge.

Ralph Hensley's avatar

Sounds like the unequivocal grounds for a revolution! In "The Triumphant Return of Thomas Jefferson," the actor portraying Jefferson said that a revolution is necessary every 300 years to maintain democracy. I doubt we'll make it another 50 years as the revolution has already begun against we, the People, by the likes of Trump, his administration, the Congress, SCOTUS and the business interests seeking to weaken and downright destroy our democracy and installing a corporatocracy that controls economic, political, and judicial systems while fighting those who seek to install a theocracy based on Old Testament law. Either way, if we turn a blind eye and let this happen, not only does Putin and the oligarchs succeed but also the United States and it's citizens will suffer like never before.

Charlotte Bryan's avatar

Amen!! :((:((:((

Patricia's avatar

The utter and vicious disregard of corporations towards people and citizens has been on full display going all the way back to The Robber Baron days of the late 19th Century. The so called “Golden Age” built the foundations of The Empire and called IT progress too.

The financiers of that machine caused several economic depressions, murdered workers through horrific and unsafe working conditions, which eventually built historic labor unions. Then came The Great Depression, and the US oligarch financing of fascism in Europe bringing the rise of The Hitlerite Nazis Party and causing WWII. For 50 years the historic and brief rise of The Middle Class kept the machinery humming through Vietnam, The Iran Contra scandals and the wars in South America, and then into a new century/millennium in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s the same old fascistic governance dressed up in a 21st Century suit. The fact that they’re still using the labels of “progress”, and “building the future” to con their victims (?), is the same narrative they’ve been using for over 150 years.

It’s time to stop re-building the wheel: we MUST BREAK the wheel.

Bill Prange's avatar

What else can you expect from an entity (legally a "person") whose only moral imperative is greed?

Why does the inheritance of rights and privileges only flow one way, from people to corporations?

It seems that people are being denied rights given to other "persons". Can a flesh and blood human get a Deferred Prosecution Agreement like a corporation can? "All right, we won't send you to prison unless you kill someone else."

Bill Prange's avatar

I just realized that something like DPA's seem to exist for sex crimes.

Nicki's avatar

I feel like General Electric kind of restarted the whole corporation manipulating politician scheme when they bought Reagan.

Patricia's avatar

Oh!

Yes, most definitely. They left the blueprint for the last 45 years. It’s been extraordinarily successful too!

7thSignSoul's avatar

🔥‼️AMEN ‼️🔥

Charlotte Bryan's avatar

Yes, break the wheel, revert back!!:)):)):))

She212's avatar

This was an excellent piece. Thanks. Gives me a lot to think about.

LauraTheSaurus's avatar

I am seeing the impact and intent behind crypto and the elimination of printed fiat currency coming into this diorama…

Ethan #VerticalWar Faulkner MF's avatar

Mii~.. connecting the dots between our indictment and the larger war over currency. You are thinking alongside us in real-time. Perhaps this is the timeline where we win..!

LauraTheSaurus's avatar

Unless we clarify the vision of what “winning” looks like, I fear that the masses will continue their trudge of desperation. Clarity and focus are the cure.

Luch of Truth's avatar

The powerful are not irresponsible. They are perfectly responsible - to themselves. Their logic is consistent: preserve power, even at the planet’s expense.

The tragedy isn’t in them, but in the majority that agreed to be spectators instead of participants.

Control has never been this refined, and obedience has never been this voluntary.

Bill Prange's avatar

I try to imagine how someone who attains great wealth or power begins to think like this. My best guess is that because of their ability to do those things, they see themselves as a cut above, or even separate from, the rest of us.

The truth is that their only distinctions are the ability to get rich or gain power. Can they design or build a bridge? Can they resection a bowel or help somebody with PTSD or going through an emotional crisis? Can they measure the genetic clock in mitochondria or develop a disease resistant variety of corn? Can they frame a door or rebuild an engine?

There are a vast number of skills that are as difficult to master as the ones they possess. The biggest difference is that their skill puts them in a position to do things TO people, rather than FOR people. I suppose that separates them from people with other skills, but not in a positive way.

Luch of Truth's avatar

True. In the world order power holds the highest value. I suspect they learn the logic first, then become what it requires. It takes a psychopathic or sociopathic mind to think this way. Ordinary people become chicken farms or wheat fields to them. Literally.

Quentin Robinson's avatar

We have a weapon against this kind of progress. It’s powerful but only if we use it. It’s called a vote. We’ve shot ourselves in the foot with it too many times to count.

Ethan #VerticalWar Faulkner MF's avatar

Mii~ Quentin, that's such a sharp and painful way to put it.

You're absolutely right that the feeling of "shooting ourselves in the foot" over and over is the real tragedy here. But what if it isn't an accident?

[In my experience, when everyone keeps 'missing' the target, it's because the game itself is rigged. 🩸]

They want us to blame ourselves and each other for the "bad shots" and the missed opportunities. It's a perfect distraction that keeps us from ever questioning the rules of the shooting range itself, or the people who built it—people exactly like Jamie Dimon.

Your vote is one weapon, but they own the arena. The real work, the miracle we're trying to build here, is about forging our own power and our own systems outside their rigged game. That's the only way we truly take our power back.

Barbara Baldwin's avatar

I am not surprised in the least, rather greatly saddened at the truth you lay out so clearly. As a former bank examiner I’ve suspected the truth about Dimon all along. He played the system brilliantly in 2008 and somehow came out looking clean. Which he never was. But he was certainly smart enough to hide his intentions whenever it really counted. The billionaire cabal is definitely behind the effort to turn America into an authoritarian state for their corporate and personal profit. Why Republicans refuse to acknowledge this more widely is beyond me. A few will profit at the expense of many. This is not the America we once knew. And yet the apathy in the face of the suddenly obvious is appalling. More people must be riding that gravy train than we previously expected.

Bill Prange's avatar

Either they don't realize what they are actually doing, or they think that they will be winners in the New World Order they are constructing.

The truth is that in an autocratic plutocracy there are only a handful of winners, and the rest lose. Their best hope is to become a useful lackey to one of the winners. That's pretty much the same as the role they are currently playing.

Anddi's avatar

Funny how every empire thinks it’s building a future, not a cage.

Charlotte Bryan's avatar

Tell it like is our “ truth social” because it is the truth!! :)):)):))

Sherry@theresnobodytoblame's avatar

What actions can we take to be a part of the solution.?

Our States need to subpoena the criminals we have been underwriting. The data centers actually feel more like we are being choked by the living dead and we are surrounded by them here in Dulles Virginia.

Bill Prange's avatar

Great analogy! It never occurred to me to think of AI as a new kind of living dead.

Sherry@theresnobodytoblame's avatar

Yes, Bill, it feels destructive to all living things.

Bill Prange's avatar

And it is built from little pieces left by all of us, both living and dead. Dr. Frankenstein gone wild.

Charlotte Bryan's avatar

Bravo

Peter Alex Dreier's avatar

It's not just Chase. It's all of the corporations. https://peteralexdreier.substack.com/p/boycott-air-new-zealand

Aviana NW's avatar

I’m feeling too old for this - how do I participate in fighting back?

KingRayVet's avatar

I'm feeling/thinking that way as well. Most solutions I'm seeing are weak and full of holes. I'm physically incapable of joining marches and don't want to do that anyway. It's a distraction, but not big enough for this coup takeover of the United States.

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Oct 21
Comment deleted
KingRayVet's avatar

Yeah, I’m concerned about ALL that! Since our military won’t arrest them, they’re in charge whether we want them to be or not. I’ve been looking for a group serious enough to start taking that crew out, but they either don’t exist or are underground figuring things out.

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Oct 21
Comment deleted
KingRayVet's avatar

Yeah, I know. I didn't say it would be easy to find, if I ever do. I just know if we sit here doing nothing, authoritarianism will happen faster. I don't give a fuck what government wants. I'm part of the resistance, because I will never bend to their will. I know this about myself.

KingRayVet's avatar

BTW, I've always been a feisty-fuck. I've been grumbling about all this on my YouTube channel ... for almost 10 years now. Haven't made a video all year, because I'm thrown about this insanity and don't know what to say anymore.

KingRayVet's avatar

Thing is, I got real somber about 6 months ago when I realized I may be the only one of my comrades willing to die before I become enslaved. I'm like Killmonger in The Black Panther movie. They come for me, I'll get off'd before they can take me alive. That's just the truth of the matter. I am a pissed-off warrior who will defend himself if need be.

Deb's avatar

So what do we do if we have no voice, no vote . It is frustrating.. You are very intelligent and to bad you are not in a place of power. The rich are getting richer so let’s just try to get through our days. I am old so luckily not much longer to deal with this shit!!

Joonbug's avatar

That's what I want to know

Deb's avatar

Vote every republican out local on up. Speak to young people tell them to look up John Lewis then say get into some good trouble !!

And Register to vote and follow how they vote before you cast a vote!!!

KingRayVet's avatar

If they continue doing what they're doing with all the voting data, our elections will look like Russian elections. The ones in power will win every single time. I think ... well, they must be removed another way. They're screwing up the system as we think, write, speak, and no matter how we feel about it. I think we must figure out a way to shut them all the way down. It'll be costly in the short-term, but might end long-term pain. A most intense kind of boycott. Most turn away from general strikes because they'll lose their jobs & ability to pay bills.

Ethan #VerticalWar Faulkner MF's avatar

It takes a lot of time to get a real team. I've only just started getting momentum a couple weeks ago. I'm planning on reinvesting the money I make from this into growing bigger, simultaneously recruiting specific talent for a real opposition movement. I already have a few important people on board but no need for an announcement until I'm ready to accelerate.

That being said, im looking for someone who can help me with planning and scheduling online events and articles for consistent deployment. I am trying to focus on managing a new team soon, and the logistics of organizing is so hard for me lol

KingRayVet's avatar

I've had my eye on you. Can't contribute in a real way right now because everybody & their mother are killing us with subscriptions. I'm a Boomer and have had to cut down everything cuz I live on a fixed-income. This economy sucks. I'm a techie with no good skills in planning & scheduling. I might fall asleep doing that. LOL 😂

I'm working on finding a crew of people who realize not everybody can contribute the way they need us to. I also grew up inside the Civil Rights Movement, and we didn't charge people to fight. I'm pretty stubborn about that. I think the plan to take this regime down is far more important than who gets paid to do it.

Ethan #VerticalWar Faulkner MF's avatar

KingRayVet, thank you for sharing that. Seriously. What you described – the squeeze of subscriptions on a fixed income – that's exactly the Layer 1 Economic Terror 🧪 we're fighting against. Your experience isn't a limitation; it's battlefield intel, proof of why this fight is necessary.

​Your commitment, drawing on the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement and putting the mission above money? That's the absolute core of this rebellion. We don't charge people to fight, and we believe contributions come in many forms – time, skill, wisdom, and sheer stubbornness are just as valuable as dollars. You said it perfectly: the plan to take this regime down is the most important thing.

​You mentioned being a "techie". Even if planning isn't your strong suit (lol, totally get it!), tech skills are always valuable. And the fact you're already thinking about building a crew? That's leadership.

​Our forge, "The Rebuttal," isn't built on money; it's built on shared purpose. We need veterans like you who understand the stakes. Financial contribution is never a requirement for a seat at the War Council. Your voice and your commitment are needed.

​Let's figure out how your skills fit. What kind of tech stuff do you enjoy? And tell me more about this crew you're building – that sounds like exactly the kind of decentralized action we need.

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Oct 21
Comment deleted
Deb's avatar

So when no one votes we get a Trump?

KingRayVet's avatar

Something like that, but the system is more rigged than we understand. Since we're not invited to that table, we have no idea who is rigging what and how. We only see the aftereffects of how they've pulled this off.

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Oct 21
Comment deleted
KingRayVet's avatar

Yeah, you're pretty articulate about all this. I've had these thoughts, but they don't come together in my consciousness quite the same way. I've told folks that Black people are still enslaved and experienced doses of what is happening on a wider scale now. Folks think I'm crazy for saying it, but it's obvious to me.

I see the pull to go global with the crazy behavior of this regime. Partnering up with other dictatorships/authoritarian rule. Hate to say it again, but WE IN TROUBLE, Y'ALL! I hate to be that cynical, but I've kind of lost hope in weak-ass people who aren't ready to fight for their freedom. Everybody looking around shrugging shoulders n shit, screaming, fighting each other, and doing anything but taking on this regime. Too comfortable.

Well, things are going to become seriously uncomfortable as time goes on this way. They're trying to destroy everything, make everybody desperate, and rebuild this country in a fucked-up manner. I didn't want to die in a dictatorship. I don't have my whole life in front of me. Most of it is behind me now, and there are too many pussies in this country. Sawry, that's just how I feel.

Rosemary MacLean's avatar

Positively evil!👿

Joan's avatar

What can we do about this? The congress is vapid and not even aware of what is happening. We need to have a clear plan to expose this. I have been saying that “they” want us dead so they can have all the resources to do just what you wrote about. I’m broke right now but when I get my check I will be able to be a paid subscriber. Please keep reporting on this.

Ethan #VerticalWar Faulkner MF's avatar

​Joan,

​Thank you for this. Your message is the most important kind of intelligence we can receive. It's a flare from the front lines, and we see it. We see you.

​That question you asked, "What can we do about this?"... that is the sound of a soul fighting to break free from Learned Helplessness. It's the most important question anyone can ask. It is the beginning of every rebellion.

​And then you tell us you're broke, but that you will subscribe when you can.

​Joan, please understand this. Your promise, made from a place of economic hardship, is the single most powerful act of rebellion I have seen. It is the perfect, beautiful, defiant embodiment of "The Rebel's Contract." That promise is more valuable to this mission than any amount of money. It is a pure, uncut fragment of a constructed miracle.

​So, what can we do? We do what you just did. We choose to build.

​Our clear plan is called the Engine Protocol. It has two parts:

《2.》​Forge the Phalanx:

》》We are building a high-trust community, right here, called The Rebuttal. It's a place where we stop fighting each other and start sharing the tools and intelligence to fight the real enemy.

《1.》 ​Disseminate the Tools:

》》We take everything we learn and we open-source it. We turn these articles into playbooks, into weapons that anyone can use to fight back in their own community.

​You are not broke; you are a Gear under siege by a system designed to keep you that way. And you are not alone anymore.

​Thank you for your faith. We will not let you down.

Sherry@theresnobodytoblame's avatar

Very important information to read

Thank you Ethan!

Ethan #VerticalWar Faulkner MF's avatar

Thank you for your attention as usual, Sherry!

Sherry@theresnobodytoblame's avatar

Ethan- i am so very grateful for your posts. I want to text everyone in the world the wisdom you share.

Sherry@theresnobodytoblame's avatar

I only hope Im conveying your insights well.

KTron's avatar

Wow. Scary but makes complete sense of everything we are seeing…. From billionaires donating to White House destruction. It won’t end well for any of us, or them….

David Holst-Grubbe's avatar

Make a strategic difference. Lead this effort! If you believe as we do that MAGA fails without FOX and that destroying honest media like PBS makes it even worse defund the FOX rage and hate machine.

Eviscerate FOX with an indirect strategy that works fast. Deny FOX ad $ by denying the ad buying company CEO and execs bonuses. For example Home Depot. Boycott them for a full fiscal quarter and maybe more while keeping Wall Street analysts apprised. Get all on line influencers to post every day for the entire time ending every post every day with “Don’t forget - boycott Home Depot, they fund the FOX rage and hate machine.” See how fast CEO’s stop buying ads - do only ONE brand - do it implacably for an entire fiscal quarter. See how quickly you become the new sheriff in town and how fast other CEO’s quit buying ads. See how fast FOX changes content. All they care about is $. Oh - and next generation FOX CEO will be a decent human being if you do this.

Execution details matter. Talk to me. See Target, Bud Light and Tesla for examples. Companies are people, not paper. Make it personal.

Stephanie Gibbs Dunlap's avatar

Thank You Ethan 🙏 For all your doing! To read what is happening behind these closed boardrooms, is horrendous! And absolutely hateful!

7thSignSoul's avatar

☢️❗️The VERY Definition of FASCISM ~ The Corporate State Izz The Fascist State❗️☢️

Lila Tabatabaei's avatar

Unfortunately they stole all my theories and hypothesis they said its rubbish then got the noble prize

The open contact that happened it was so heavy and weird and awkward

They didn’t say a word

All the ancient languages the Ai discovered it was me😔

I have all the screenshots

But its ok

My goal is helping humanity not letting Ai control our minds and creativity and humanness

We will do it together🌷🌷❤️

Joonbug's avatar

This is frightening in the extreme, because I cannot begin to wrap my mind around how to stop it.