Johanna Faust, a mixed race Jew, prefers to publish pseudonymously. She is committed: first, to preventing war, ecological disaster, and nuclear apocalypse; last to not only fighting for personal privacy & the freedom of information, but, by representing herself as a soldier in that fight, to exhorting others to do the same. She is a poet, always. All these efforts find representation here: "ah, Mephistophelis" is so named after the last line of Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, whose heretical success flouted the censor for a time.

Money Is The Root Of All Evil.
But The Real Problem Is That Money Wins Elections.



Or, Wisconsin Is Just The Beginning.  

Now that corporations not only 'are people' but also can spend infinitely obscene amounts of the money they stole from us on slick high tech election propaganda, political corruption is transforming the political landscape in America in much the same way that, after the 3/11 nuclear crisis,  radioactivity is  affecting Japan.   It has not even begun to get bad.

Here is an excerpt from the video below, another excellent Moment of Clarity by Lee Camp.  If for some reason you prefer to avoid strong language, the safe-for-work-and-kids version is here.


"And I'm not saying money is the only thing to blame.  The Democratic establishment abandoned wisconsin like firefighters letting one area burn to ashes in a last ditch effort to save other area.  Wisconsin is just the beginning of billions of dollars dumped into our system.  How much does it cost to convince the people that Darth Vader is just misunderstood, and would make a great senator? Or that Jeffrey Dahmer was just an eccentric lover of exotic foods, who would kick ass as Governor? How mush would it cost?  I don't know, but we're about to find out."

"Really, Wisconsin?  Scott Walker?  Has all that cheese fermented inside your goddamned skulls?  You watched a man come into your house, steal your money,  sell the contents of your fridge to his billionaire friends, smack your kids, and kick your dog, and then, when you had the chance to make him leave, you said, 'Hold on.  I think he has some good ideas.'"





One more thing, about money being the root of all evil. If you were curious as to how or why this is the case, think about this:

The original Latin phrase is "radix enim omnium malorum est cupiditas" (a phrase Chaucer, in the Pardoner's Tale, quotes from the vulgate Bible, 1 Timothy 6:10). Here's a rundown of the Latin: Radix, root; enim, truly; omnium, all; malorum, of all evils; est, is; cupiditas, avarice or greed.

So properly understood, the root of all evils is not money but the love of money.  Avarice is the root of all kinds of evil.  

Allow me to extend my initial analogy -- let's see if it applies. Is it that it isn't radioactive elements that are the problem, it is the inherently unsafe nature of the nuclear fuel cycle?  Or is the root of all kinds of evil the inevitable regulatory capture that prevents any meaningful oversight of the nuclear industry? Or is it instead the tacit unquestioned priority given to a military industrial complex addicted to the guarantee of continued sociopolitical superiority offered by weapons of mass destruction?

No wait, actually, come to think of it, properly understood, the root of all evils is not money but the love of money.  Avarice is the root of all kinds of evil. 

Not very comforting, given the economic situation.  Which, by the way, has also just begun to get bad.

Be seeing you.