Young Anabaptist Radicals

Corporations

Mountainhead Glossary and Further Reading: Accelerationism, Longtermism, Doomers, Decels, Technofeudalism and the Shield of Boringness

Photo of large chess board with three characters from Mountainhead talking around it, HBO publicity

This piece was originally published in Geez Magazine, Spring 2024 issue as “Further reading: Generative AI and Artificial General Intelligence.” I am adapting the piece after watching the movie Mountainhead which references many of the concepts in this piece. Key concepts and terms are in bold and italics.

In understanding Mountainhead, it is useful to distinguish between generative Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Generalized Intelligence (AGI).

Generative AI is an existing technology that creates text or images based on prompts and are often Large Language Models trained on vast amounts of data. ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion and Midjourney are prominent examples of this software.

Artificial Generalized Intelligence (AGI) is a hypothetical future technology that can fully replicate any human mental ability. AGI does not currently exist, but appears widely in movies, perhaps most famously as Skynet in the terminator movies.

As the summaries below lay out, much of the conversations today are about whether current developments in generative AI technology indicates that we are close (or closer) to developing AGI.

Can Humanity Survive AI?, Garrison Lovely, Jacobin Magazine, Jan 22, 2024
https://jacobin.com/2024/01/can-humanity-survive-ai

Lovely gives an up to the minute historical overview of emerging schools of thought around AI.

There are two movements raising the alarm among deep learning scientists and AI leaders that are important to understand.

The first is the AI safety or “doomers” camp that warns AI puts the future of humanity at risk. They are concerned about “an irreversible loss of human control over autonomous AI systems” similar to the plot of the movie Terminator. Last year, Ukraine may have been the first country to use Lethal Autonomous Weapons that kill people without human oversight.

The other AI critical movement that Lovely identifies is the AI Ethics community that is focused on the more mundane ways in which current use of AI exacerbates racism, discrimination against poor people, bad labor conditions and makes the rich richer.

The hyper capitalist school of effective accelerationism (also called e/acc) is pushing for the profit driven development AGI as soon as possible to usher in a post-human future. They focus their ire on the effective altruism, (EA) a movement made famous by crypto tycoon and convicted fraudster Sam Bankman Fried. The EA movement is urging deceleration of AI development and, on this issue, are broadly aligned with the AI safety movement. Accelerationists often derisively refer to their opponents as decels from Decelerationism.

On June 26, 2025, Google search results suggest "Do you mean Accelerationism?" when searching for its opposite: Decellerationism
On June 26, 2025, Google search results suggest “Do you mean Accelerationism?” when searching for its opposite: Decellerationism

AI Won’t Overthrow Us, But It Will Optimize the Capitalist Death Machine, Kelly Hayes interviewing Paris Max, Truthout, Aug 3, 2023 https://truthout.org/audio/ai-wont-overthrow-us-but-it-will-optimize-the-capitalist-death-machine/

Abolitionist writer and organizer Kelly Hayes interviews Paris Marx of the podcast “Tech Won’t Save Us.” They lay out the AI Ethics argument that the focus on existential threat AI poses (the “doomers” referenced above) is a distraction from the way that current AI technology is exacerbating capitalism and white supremacist structures today. In other words, stoking the fear of future AI overlords is a distraction from our current billionaire overlords and an attempt to avoid regulation and critical scrutiny of current AI technology. They quote Douglas Rushkoff’s summary of billionaire’s apocalyptic doomerism: “[The ultra wealthy are] afraid the AIs are going to be as mean to them as they’ve been to us.” (Original source of quote: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/may/28/artificial-intelligence-doug-rushkoff-tech-billionaires-escape-mode )

Hayes and Marx unpack the trendy philosophy longtermism as a sort of “tech religion.” Longtermism focuses on existential risks to humanity and the well being of future humans. Marx and Haye argue this is often at the expense of current humans. Longermism is closely tied with the Effective Altruism movement described above.

The interview looks at a number of other problems with current AI technology. The massive data centers of “the cloud” that ChatGPT and other generative AI models run on are having major negative climate impacts. There is also a lack of transparency in the training data for generative AI. At the end of the day, Hayes argues, “the so-called revolution that AI offers is really a hardening of the status quo.”

The Friar Who Became the Vatican’s Go-To Guy on A.I., Jason Horowitz, NY Times, Feb 9, 2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/09/world/europe/italy-artificial-intelligence-ethics.html

Self identified geek, Father Benanti, has worked with Pope Francis and the president of Microsoft on AI ethics. Benanti says that the Pope started paying more attention to AI after an AI generated image of him in a white puffer coat went viral. Francis was less interested in the technology and more in what he can do to protect the vulnerable from its negative impact. On January 1, 2024, the pope called for an international treaty to avoid a merciless future in which “inscrutable algorithms decide who is granted asylum, who gets a mortgage, or who, on the battlefield, lives or dies.”

New AI app lets users ‘text with’ Jesus and other biblical figures, Fiona André, Religion News, August 7, 2023 https://religionnews.com/2023/08/07/new-ai-app-lets-users-text-with-jesus-and-other-biblical-figures/

For $2.99 a month you can talk to a generative AI (like ChatGPT) trained to impersonate Biblical characters. In case you were worried, schlocky Christian digital tchotchkes are part of our AI future.

Justine Bateman thread, Twitter (currently known as X), May 13, 2023
https://twitter.com/JustineBateman/status/1657476895972413440

Bateman is a writer, actor and software developer. During the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) strike in the summer of 2023, Bateman wrote to her fellow union members about a possible future in which actors aren’t needed anymore, but their likenesses are used by generative AI software to create movies.

Disinformation reimagined: how AI could erode democracy in the 2024 US elections, Nick Robins-Early, The Guardian, July 19, 2023 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/19/ai-generated-disinformation-us-elections

A catalog of tools that could be used by malicious actors in elections: deep fake audio and video of candidates, chatbots posing as voters, more fake news, more sophisticated voter suppression campaigns and AI driven variations on Cambridge Analytics social media psychoprofile hacking.

The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation, Cory Doctorow, Verso Books, 2023. https://truthout.org/audio/to-fight-big-tech-we-must-seize-the-means-of-computation/

Doctorow is a tech realist who sees positive and negative roles for tech while centering the problem on capitalism and the big tech companies seeking maximum profit. He is very critical of what he calls technofeudalism in which consumers sign our rights over the walled gardens of tech companies in exchange for protection. He points out how Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon will only protect their customers when it is in their best interests.

He argues that the shield of boringness is used by tech companies to avoid effective regulation. In other words, the tremendous effort required to understand tech and laws enough to advocate deters effective advocacy to hold big tech accountable. I also recommend Kelly Haye’s interview with Doctorow in September, 2023: https://truthout.org/audio/to-fight-big-tech-we-must-seize-the-means-of-computation/

Honorable Mention

How ChatGPT Will Destabilize White-Collar Work – No technology in modern memory has caused mass job loss among highly educated workers. Will generative AI be an exception?, Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, Jan 20, 2023 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/01/chatgpt-ai-economy-automation-jobs/672767/

Conservatives Are Panicking About AI Bias, Think ChatGPT Has Gone ‘Woke’ – All AI systems carry biases, and ChatGPT allegedly being “woke” is far from the most dangerous one. Motherboard by Vice, Jan 17, 2023
https://www.vice.com/en/article/93a4qe/conservatives-panicking-about-ai-bias-years-too-late-think-chatgpt-has-gone-woke

Team Human vs. Team Posthuman—Which Side Are You On? How Silicon Valley billionaires intentionally muddle public conversations around human extinction., Emile P. Torres, Truthdig, April 4, 2024 https://www.truthdig.com/articles/team-human-vs-team-posthuman-which-side-are-you-on/

No AI tools were used in generating these summaries or writing this article.
Featured image is an HBO publicity photo from the Mountainhead movie

June 27, 2025 Civilization, Corporations, End Times, Technology, Wealth, 0 Read more >

Economics According to the New Testament

Gold aureus coins with the faces of various Roman Leaders. These coins were found below the floor of a Roman house in Corbridge in 1911. From the British museum.

Growing up, I was often exposed to the idea that capitalism and Christianity go together. Profit and wealth were not simply compatible with Christianity, but were a sign of God’s blessing or your personal piety. I remember going to the Christian bookstore once or twice and seeing large piles of books with that topic specifically in mind, usually by Dave Ramsey, who was recently on the 700 Club for a new book of his. In that interview, one of the first things mentioned is how Ramsey and Robertson agree that wealth is a good thing, and that those who see wealth as bad are wrong, even “gnostic.” I don’t think the heretics here are the “gnostics” who believe that wealth is wrong; rather, I think the heretics here are Ramsey, Robertson, and others in their camp, who seem to have forgotten what the New Testament and early church taught concerning economics.

Ramsey likes to talk a lot about biblical finances. He claims that when he gives someone financial advice that it is done through following what the Bible says. Let’s take a look at what the Bible, specifically the New Testament, teaches Christians concerning finances.

(more…)

October 24, 2014 Anabaptism, Community, Consumerism, Corporations, Economics, Social justice, , , , Read more >

Beware of the Ministry-Industrial Complex

Occasionally, I end up going to one of those “Christian” stores, or I get some sort of advertisement from them. Where I live, they are called “Family Christian Stores” with an emphasis on the family part. In other parts of the country, such stores also exist, but with different names. We have all been to those kinds of places. When I was an evangelical, that was where you went to get a Bible or some accessory for it, but I still occasionally end up going there for one reason or another. These stores have books by Sarah Palin and Joel Osteen, and entire walls devoted to American flags and New International Versions. We all know the type.

A couple of weeks ago, I received an advertisement catalog from one of those stores, and for some reason I looked through it. First, there was a bunch of customized Bibles. Sort of like some sort of collector’s item, there was a bunch of needless varieties of Bibles for purchasing. I always see this whenever I go to any bookstore — people treating the Bible like some sort of fashion statement. What really annoyed me was when I saw this. They have this line of patriotic clothing, but it is not just patriotic. They mix Christianity into their patriotism in an amazing way. They even have a “Jesus Saves” shirt stylized to read “JesUSAves.” They literally made Jesus an American and linked Christian salvation to Americanism. They are mixing Christianity, capitalism, and the American state into one single chimera. Now, this is not new. I have known that they were doing this for a long time, but this example proved to be the ideal opportunity to bring up the issue. (more…)

May 29, 2013 Church, Conscientious Objection, Consumerism, Corporations, culture, Current Events, Economics, empire, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Military, Nonviolence, patriotism, Peace & Peacemaking, US Military, Violence, war, , , , , , , Read more >

Peacemaking and Land in Colombia

Crossposted from As of Yet Untitled

I’ve been here in Colombia with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) for a week and a half. This week I’ll be visiting Las Pavas, where CPT has been working with 123 families since 2009. They have been struggling to get title to the land where they have lived for decades while A palm oil company has been trying to push them off.

My colleague and I will be a presence with Las Pavas during an official visit by INCODER, the Colombian agency who grants land titles. I’m looking forward to meeting the community personally for the first time since I’ve been hearing about them for so many years.

Here’s a brief summary of the Las Pavas story from an article last year by the Colombia team.

The people of Las Pavas are a sustainable farming community in the southern Bolivar department (province) of Colombia. Through the years, paramilitary violence has forced community members to leave the land but each time they have returned. In 2006, the community was in the process of claiming its land rights under Colombian law when a Daabon consortium bought the land from absentee owner, who had lost his rights to the land due to years of abandonment. On 14 July 2009, the Colombian riot police forcefully removed the community of Las Pavas.

(more…)

June 17, 2012 Corporations, Peace & Peacemaking, Tactics Read more >

Beyond Obamaism: Occupy Wall Street and the Capacity to Hope

DSC_0264

Crossposted from As of Yet Untitled

It’s been a month since I wrote a piece on Young Anabaptist Radicals about my experience of visiting Occupy Chicago. It was three days after they had started camping in front of the Federal Reserve of Chicago and 10 days after Occupy Wall Street (OWS) kicked off in New York. At the time, I wrote with a mix of enthusiasm and skepticism. The visit gave me a glimpse into the sense of possibility that I remember from watching the Seattle protests but also a dose of skepticism bordering on cynicism. What could such a small group of people really do?

A month later, the answer seems clear: plenty. It still seems miraculous in many ways. While announcing the death of apathy and despair in the United States (as Michael Moore did at Occupy Oakland on Friday) is probably premature, the OWS movement has gone a long way towards tearing down the barriers that prevent so many of us from working together for change.

I’d like to share a few observations building on the framework that Steve Kryss developed in his article for the Mennonite Weekly Review. He named these parallels between the OWS movement and the Anabaptist movement that sprung up across cities in Europe nearly 500 years ago:

The Anabaptist movement emerged largely among the young. It moved through the urban contexts of educated Europeans without clarity but with a clear bent toward justice for the poor.

It emerged in and around the Peasant Revolts, which threatened established governments and religious perspectives. The radical Anabaptists were sympathetic to those whose lives were controlled by overlords.

Early Anabaptism was a movement of conversing, addressing powers and protesting. It was met with ridicule and with sympathy. There were dialogues and diatribes.

I notice three other parallels with early Anabaptism that inspire me: (more…)

October 31, 2011 Anabaptism, Corporations, Group Identity, Politics, Tactics, Young Folks Read more >

Occupy Wall Street: Interview with Eli Robert and Riley

Amtrak crosses the county carrying overnight passengers, strangers who engage each other as little or as much as they want. I overhear the social analysis of foreigners, business owners, union workers, environmentalists, activists and Amish. Wide seats, scenic cars, and café tables host a unique social atmosphere, literally a meeting in between places with a cross-section of the world.

Last night I returned from New York State via Amtrak, following a weekend of faith-based social justice fellowship with the Word and World mentoring program. I heard three young men relate their weekend experience of Occupy Wall Street in New York City. Computer speakers played Colbert’s speech at the White House Press Dinner. Elderly voices discussed political debates in Iowa, “Those politicians are all liars” … “Well that should not attract votes the way they argue.”

Tim spotted the chance for a window into the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement from its source in New York City. We invited the activists to the café car for an interview. Eli Fender (23), from Seattle joined the camp for two weeks. Robert Smith (20) and Riley O’Neil (20) both originally from Rogers Park in Chicago (small world) both visited the camp over the weekend.

Charletta: Tell us about the movement’s shape. What are some of the tools that are important at OWS?

Eli: There’s the people’s microphone, which a lot of people know about. There’s also working groups such as the facilitation working group who guides the General assembly. In democracy you worry about where power starts welling up. So I joined the facilitation group meeting.

(more…)

October 24, 2011 activism, antiracism, communication, Corporations, Current Events, Economics, Environment, Leadership, Nonviolence, poverty, Power, Privilege, Wealth Read more >

Operation Payback, Anonymous and Wikileaks: A look at tactics, morality and innovation

Nearly two weeks after my first post on Wikileaks, their diplomatic cables and the resulting fall out continue to make the front page news. The arrest of Assange and attacks on Mastercard, Visa and Paypal by “Operation Payback” have garnered far more attention then the cables themselves. The New York Times quoted one Internet guru comparing Operation Payback to the battle at Lexington that started the Revolutionary war in the United States.

In looking at “Operation Payback” and its denial of service attacks, journalists have begun to focus on Anonymous, which is typically described as the group of hackers behind the attacks. Some portray it as a shadowy cadre of internet vigilantes, meeting somewhere out there in the ether, plotting their next strike. Others paint a heroic picture of activists fighting for free speech against giant corporations and governments. Estimates of the number of people (or computers) involved vary widely.

A little bit of history is useful in understanding Anonymous. I first came became aware of Anonymous through their Project Chanology campaign which focused around opposition to Scientology. In their protests outside Scientology offices, they wore masks modeled on that worn by the main character in V is for Vendetta. Along with demonstrations, their tactics used by Project Chanology were a lot like high school pranks: sometimes silly, sometimes crude, often juvenile and always motivated by a strong sense of righteous indignation. The collective culture of Anonymous was born in the /b/ section 4chan, an internet forum worthy of its own lengthy article. Suffice it to say that 4chan thrives on trolling, griefing, digital bullying and generally offensiveness of all sorts.

(more…)

December 11, 2010 Corporations, culture, Current Events, Tactics Read more >

Goldman Sachs, the global food crisis and faith in corporations

Last week, Harper’s magazine published an article by looking at the link between the unabashed greed of big financial firms and the 2007—2008 world food crisis. The crisis resulted in the starvation of thousands, hunger for millions and riots in some of the countries hit hardest. For a window into the pain of an individual family in Ethiopioa, see this article in the Independent.

Kaufman’s article includes an in depth look at the history of commodity markets and futures trading and detailed explanation of how recent “innovations” led to a dramatic rise in food prices. The bottom line of Kaufman’s allegation is: big financial corporations manipulated the food market for their own profit and millions of people went without food as a result.

It’s worth noting that Kaufman is not critiquing the over all system of wheat futures. He is specifically pointing to “innovations” by the financial industry that created a “food bubble.”

(more…)

July 19, 2010 Corporations, Current Events, Food Read more >

Never doubt that a small group of marginal wierdos chan change the world.

In fact, according to Clive Thompson, marginal weirdos brought us computer, democracy and the novel. Basically, Thompson argues that when the audience gets too big for a conversation, it stops taking risks. Which is why I’ve come to see these long posting breaks on YAR as pruning moments. A 10% drop in visits to YAR in March means 10% more risk taking! Another part of Thompson’s argument is the way small groups can have wider ripple effects.

For example, I have to admit that I’ve been a Twitter skeptic. I just can’t bring myself to try to squeeze a meaningful into 140 characters. Its probably quite closely tied with my lack of enthusiasm for texting. Maybe its a generational thing. But I discovered that technology doesn’t wait for us to get used to it. Turns out people have been tweeting about YAR for at least a year. (more…)

April 1, 2010 Corporations, Meta (YAR) Read more >

Colombian Paramilitaries defend Multinational Corporations from “bureaucrats”

An urgent action from the Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin American just arrived in my inbox. It included this quote from a new death threat from the Colombian paramilitary group Black Eagles, who are also active in Barrancabermeja, where I’ve worked with Christian Peacemaker Teams:

With the help of “Familias en Accion” “Guardabosques” and the country’s Democratic Security policy, a group of men and women worried about the state of the country. We have decided that it is necessary to start a fight against those that camouflage themselves as social organizations such as the CUT Valle, NOMADESC, Human Rights Defenders, NGOs, enemies of our democracy.

Those bureaucrats don’t allow us to progress in CAUCA, where they don’t allow multinationals to enter which would benefit the communities of SUAREZ, MORALES and BUENOS AIRES…

…Today we have decided to declare as military targets those (SOB) bureaucrats, human rights defenders, NOMADESC, CUT VALLE, PCN, The Community Council of La Toma, Cerro Tijeras, Licifredy, Eduar Villegas, Jose Goyes, Diego Escobar, Recheche, Plutarco, Meraldiño Consejal”

Claiming associations between social organizations and the guerilla is almost as old as the civil war itself, but I’ve never seen a paramilitary group so open about acting on behalf of multinationals. The Colombia CPT project has often pointed out paramilitaries clear the way for multinationals coming in to set up mines and palm oil plantations, but it now appears the paramilitaries are beginning to make the connection too. Its interesting to note the increasing similarities with right wing rhetoric in the United States. Good intentioned Multinationals vs. that SOB Bureaucracy. It sounds like a Glenn Beck special.

October 26, 2009 Corporations Read more >

Corporations, Scriptural Sacrilege and Saucepan Revolutions

Crossposted from As of Yet Untitled

Every once in a while, I stumble across a bunch of links all at once that don’t quite have the coherence to link together in one story, but each offer a compelling perspective. Here are the links that caught my eye this week with brief summaries of the stories:

  • Life Inc: How the world became a corporation and how to take it back – I first became aware of Douglas Rushkoff last month after he published two of the best articles on the financial crisis I’ve read (here and here). Now he has a new book out on corporatism that lucidly illuminates the ruthless role of corporations in our economy as they extract maximum value while giving as little as possible in return. The article above includes brilliant excerpts from chapter 8 and chapter 9 of his book.
  • Onward, Christian Soldiers – GQ magazine got their hands on cover sheets from Donald Rumsfeld’s reports to Bush featuring bible verses superimposed on images of war machinery. I don’t use the term lightly, but these images are sickeningly sacrilegious. In the lower left hand corner you can see the dates of each report. They were used during the first days and months of the Iraq invasion. These images go along way to cement the invasion in people’s minds as the face of US Christianity.

(more…)

May 27, 2009 Awesome Stuff, Change, Corporations, Nonviolence, Politics, US Military Read more >

The Secret Millionaire

“I haven’t been entirely truthful with you…” says the young, well-dressed, middle-eastern man. The camera focuses in on the pained expressions on those he is speaking to in that shaky, fast cutaway style of those Jason Bourne flicks. Intense, dramatic music plays in the background. The editors let this cliff-hanger like suspense build for, well, seemingly forever. I guess, in reality, 10 seconds.

This is the Fox network, the network that, when drama doesn’t exist enough for the producers, they go ahead and make it up. Young married couples on an island with a bunch of hot singles. The screaming, shrieking Gordon Ramsey. The Fox network, God bless ’em, takes decent ideas for shows and makes the dramatic effect linger like a sky-diver in mid-air. Then they find talent to pump that drama up. It’s all really unnecessary. The material is good, let it be.

But here we are. “I haven’t been entirely truthful with you…” “…” “…” “…” “…” “I’m really a multi-millionaire.” SHA-BANG! And, lo-and-behold, the victims of what Fox believes to be a cruel joke could give two shits. Who would? The lying millionaire has been a part of their lives for six whole days. (more…)

December 12, 2008 activism, Church, Community, Contemplation, Corporations, Dumb Stuff., Economics, God, poverty, Privilege, Stewardship, Television Read more >

The Trouble with Thanksgiving: A Reflection by Nekeisha

Thanksgiving makes me nervous.

For years, I’ve gotten a sinking feeling in my stomach as the month of November draws to a close and this day looms. On the one hand, Thanksgiving is about joy and gratitude. It is a time when I travel to see family and friends, welcome a few days of rest and look forward to the holiday season. In my mind, I know it is a good thing to have a day where the sole emphasis is to give thanks to God for all God has done. I also appreciate the opportunity to celebrate all my loved ones do and are to one another.

And yet Thanksgiving reminds me of a beautiful but altogether itchy sweater. Sure it looks good on the rack in my closet. It is slimming, well-made, gorgeous color–everything you could hope for in a sweater. But if I put it on I’m guaranteed to spend the whole day tugging, scratching and feeling downright uncomfortable. Try as I might, I can’t shake that weird feeling about that good ole holiday. It gets to the point where weeks in advance I’m trying to come up with other things to say besides “Happy Thanksgiving.” And since “Happy Day Off” doesn’t cut it I go ahead and mutter the greeting anyway, wheels still turning for a suitable substitute. (more…)

November 25, 2008 activism, Anniversary, Bias, Change, Church, Civilization, Clothing, communication, Community, Conscientious Objection, Consumerism, Contemplation, Corporations, culture, Current Events, Death, Economics, Education, Environment, Ethics, Fair, Faith, Family, Food, Foreign Policy, God, Group Identity, Guns, Hate, History, Indigenous, Interpretation, Language, Leadership, liberation theology, Love, Loyalty, Nonviolence, Peace & Peacemaking, philosophy, Power, Prayer, Privilege, Race, Schism, Spiritual Life, Stewardship, Stories, The Bible, Theology, Tolerance, Tradition, Wealth, Writing, Young Folks Read more >

Bible Verses of the Day: Acts 19:23-29

23 About that time no little disturbance broke out concerning the Way. 24A man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the artisans. 25These he gathered together, with the workers of the same trade, and said, “Men, you know that we get our wealth from this business. 26You also see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost the whole of Asia this Paul has persuaded and drawn away a considerable number of people by saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be scorned, and she will be deprived of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her.”

28 When they heard this, they were enraged and shouted, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29The city was filled with the confusion; and peoplec rushed together to the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s travel companions.    – Acts 19:23-29 (NRSV)

(my version of Acts 19…don’t get huffy I’m not translating from the Greek)

A man named Henry Paulson, a secretary who made decisions about currencies, brought no little business to the Senate. These he gathered together, with other wealthy men, and said “Listen everyone, I don’t like to mix in the market anymore than you do. De-regulation has served us well for some time. But you see, we’ve gotten ourselves into a bit of a mess. This market, it has served us well for some time and made us all rich and powerful. But, the market needs more – it’s hurting. And we can’t lose the business. Now, a number of so-called “progressives” are concerned about the mortgage crisis – remember those mortgages? Ah, they were good for us weren’t they? Well, now they’ve gone sour. And a number of folks are concerned that everyone is going to lose their homes and be out on the street. But, really gentlemen, I’m much more concerned that, if we don’t act quickly, they’ll not only lose their homes, but we’ll lose lots, and lots, and lots of money. And we don’t want to upset the market – it gives us all that power remember? So, I need you guys to help me out: tell all those bleeding hearts to shut up for a while, scare the nation into thinking that all will be lost, and pass this bill giving me a lot more power to make you and all our friends alot more rich. I know you are concerned now, but you’ll thank me in the long run.”

When they heard all this, they agreed and said “Great are the fudamentals of our economy!” The country was filled with confusion, and bills were hastily past, and many were left wondering what protection was out there for them.

A week later, everyone forgot and Paul went to Macedonia (Acts 20:1).

October 9, 2008 Consumerism, Corporations, culture, Death, Economics, Stewardship, The Bible, Wealth Read more >