Starcats Presents: "Wealth & Democracy"

exploring wealth and freedom in America

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October 20, 2002: "Kevin Phillips concludes his book ''Wealth and Democracy'' with a grim warning: ''Either democracy must be renewed, with politics brought back to life, or wealth is likely to cement a new and less democratic regime -- plutocracy by some other name.'' It's a pretty extreme line, but we live in extreme times. Even if the forms of democracy remain, they may become meaningless. It's all too easy to see how we may become a country in which the big rewards are reserved for people with the right connections; in which ordinary people see little hope of advancement; in which political involvement seems pointless, because in the end the interests of the elite always get served." Krugman, NYT

New York Stock Exchange

Commentary, Updated July 22, 2002

"By 1794 (two years after the founding of the NYSE), "speculator" became an effective political epithet. Massachusetts voters were asked to exclude them from the new legislature. Candidates in North Carolina were told to swear that they had never been interested in the funding system. 'Archimedes,' in Philadelphia's National Gazette, mocked the would-be aristocrats: Speculators, he said ought to be classified by wealth and awarded titles (such as the Order of the Leech, and "Their Rapacities"). From: "Wealth and Democracy by Keith Phillips, 2002, Broadway Books, pg. 18.¹

Techno-Bust

Uranus in Aquarius

Note: Per Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter that "speculative mania usually take shape around important technological breakthroughs, or new financial techniques, institutions, or instruments..." ["Wealth and Democracy by Keith Phillips, 2002, Broadway Books, pg. 103.]

Neptune in Aquarius

The years 1997-1998 were the "swelling of the techno-siren song"... Pseudoreligious pronouncements of microcosmic faith and insinuations of technology as divinity jostled with dizzy notions of how the Internet would usher in a postpolitical wired world in which government became redundant." [Id., at pg. 103.]

1997
Uranus at 3 Aquarius.
Neptune 26 Capricorn conjoined to the USA's Pluto at 27 Capricorn.

1998
Uranus at 7 Aquarius to 12 Aquarius, conjunct the NYSE's Midheaven.
Neptune 0 Aquarius, retrograde to 29 Capricorn, then 0 Aquarius as of November 28, 1998.

Both Neptune and Uranus transited the NYSE's 9th house of beliefs, religion and values: "Psuedoreligious pronouncements of microcosmic faith and insinuations of technology as divinity ...."

Kevin Phillips' quote accurately describes Neptune and Uranus in the Utopian/techno sign of Aquarius, or what Alan Greenspan (Federal Reserve Board Chief) likes to call "irrational exuberance."

[end July 22, 2002 Update]

NYSE: "As Ever, Capital Followed Cupidity"

The NYSE's ascendant is 5 Gemini, and Saturn's current transit through the sign should not be lost upon even the novice astrologer. Saturn of delays, limitations, "karma," and, in popular parlance, "blowback," has hit to the very core of the NYSE's identity. Currently, Saturn is in trine aspect to the NYSE's Pluto at 23 Aquarius in the 10th house of the chart. Neptune of scandal hovers at the Midheaven degree, 11 Aquarius. The 10th house (Midheaven) is associated with "reputation and honors." Neptune's conjunction to the Midheaven is -- er -- dishonor through lies. Saturn in the sign of "media" (Gemini) is in square to the NYSE's 11th house cusp, 20 Pisces. This is "a fall from grace," or the great delimiter of one's present hopes for early retirement.

Jupiter is conjoined to Neptune in the NYSE's 5th house of "speculators." Jupiter and Neptune (retrograde) are the two planets associated with a) expansion; and b) religion. Jupiter conjoined to Neptune, as ruler of the NYSE's Midheaven: "Wealth is our religion." Money is plutolatry (the worship of wealth). Jupiter and Neptune also equate to plutomania (the abnormal or excessive desire for wealth. [Note, both Jupiter and Neptune rule the sign Pisces.]

Jupiter and Neptune are also in trine to -- er -- Pluto at 23 Aquarius in the 10th house of reputation and honors. Plutocracy, or "absolute power corrupts absolutely" takes a hard hit from "shattering" Uranus which will reconjoin the NYSE's natal Pluto by November 3, 2002.

Transiting Saturn (at 23 Gemini) now makes a grand air trine in the NYSE's chart: Saturn to Jupiter-Neptune to Pluto. This is about limits and paying the piper, but it is also the Ace of Swords in the Tarot Deck: rational reappraisal. Cut to the quick. Pay the same price extracted during the USA's gilded age (age of the Robber Barons of the late 1800's/early 1900's); the roaring twenties; and the dirty thirties. The Great Depression (October, 1929).

Venus at 5 Taurus (mega-wealth) is just inside the 12th house of "secrets" and is the ruler of Jupiter-Neptune in the speculating 5th house of the chart. So are Taurean Mercury retrograde and a Taurus Sun. Any horary/event oriented astrologer worth his or her salt knows that retrograde Mercury in the 12th house of such a chart identifies a thief. Who stole the USA's wealth? And, as Keith Phillips outlines superbly in his "Wealth and Democracy," is the United States poised to go the way of Britain, Holland and Hapsburg Spain? ". . . the United States as a leading world economic power at or past its zenith, and does so against the warning backdrop and decline-symptoms of its three predecessors." (Introduction pg. xvii).

Phillips (a Republican) continues: "The Republican Party has its own recurring role in partial democratic erosion. . . . The new U.S. war against terrorism adds a further possibility: that a U.S. government concerned with protecting wealth may do so at the expense of democratic procedures and may try to blame terrorism rather than flawed policy for hard times." (Id., Introduction).

"The last two decades of the twentieth century, by contrast, echoed the zeniths of corruption and excess -- . . . By the 1990's data showed the United States replacing Europe at the pinnacle of Western privilege and inequality. . . . high levels of political corruption, the arrogance of global economic power, the twisting of the U.S. tax code, and the voter belief in the captivity of government to private interests. . . ." These are the people who claim that "political money giving to be free speech." (Id., Introduction).

The NYSE's Moon at 17 Aries (Mars ruled) in house 11 is the dynamic "futuristic" hope of every investor that smart investment now lead to big money to fund lots of leisure later. But not too much later. Aries, the "first born" of the zodiac, is not known for patience. Neither is a Gemini rising. The hope, then, becomes: early retirement. A head start on the "golden years." However, as witnessed by Enron, WorldCom, et al., the excesses of the Jupiter-Neptune in opposition to crushing Saturn at 26 Aries means the dream explodes. My next door neighbor, for example, reported to me this morning that his retirement package is now downed fully by one-half. This "prudent speculator," born under the sign of Capricorn, has been organizing his "future" for 30 years. Unfortunately, he'll have to keep working for a long time to come. As residents of the State of California, my neighbor and I watched our State's employee 401-K plans bottom out by $500 million in one day -- the day WorldCom was splashed upon news headlines across the world.

Mars. Dynamic hopes and desires. Ruler of Moon (the people) and Saturn in Aries ("the fall from grace"). Mars' position in the NYSE's chart is 18 Virgo just shy of the 5th house "speculators" cusp. Mercury in the 12th house of thievery is the ruler of that Mars. It quincunxes (150 degree aspect) the Aries Moon indicating a savage adjustment to reality. A savage grab of Venusian (Taurus) wealth out from under the people (Moon). Mars is still in square (tests, trials, grave conflict) to Pluto at 15 Sagittarius. Plutocracy -- ruled by Jupiter in the speculating 5th house. Pluto's transit through the NYSE's 7th house of open enemies and corrupt negotiators is quincunx Chiron at 15 Cancer: a massive, incurable wound to "security." Transiting Pluto also quincunxes the NYSE's Moon. The two 150 degree aspects create a chart configuration known as a YOD: or "the finger of God." Here is the fated break-down after 20 years of the Bush/Reagan era: "Greed is good."

The focal point, or release point of the NYSE's YOD is directly through transiting Pluto in the 7th house: "Has the country itself become the enemy of the people?"

It should be clear that Bush's war on terrorism is a remaking of the USA's age-old traditions of piracy, profiteering and privatizing from the spoils of war. It should be noted that the USA profited mightily from its slaveocracy. By 1780, half of the south's wealth was in human cargo: 600,000 slaves valued at $120 million.

The USA's progressed Moon (chart not shown) is at 17 Sagittarius, or the degree of today's transiting Lunar Nodes. More "fated" activity here arising from "Plutocracy," as the progressed Moon has been in contact with transiting Pluto for for several months now. In two months, the NYSE's progressed Moon will reach 19 Sagittarius, the degree of the Moon for Bush's Inauguration. Inauguration Moon just happens to fall in the 8th house of the IN chart: big money yes, but also severe and grave losses of the same.

The progressed Sun at 22 Sagittarius will take the Plutonic slam in 2003. The Sun, whether natal or progressed, is the "heart" of the chart and Plutonic contact means a thrust through the gates of hell. Note: Marsilio Facino, Renassaince philsopher and astrologer, noted that Hades equated to riches, but also led one through the gates of hell. A more ancient source, The Bible, instructs that "the love of money is the root of all evil." Pay attention to the wording. It is the love of money (Plutolatry) not money in and of itself.

Tying the above together with the NYSE's progressed chart, its progressed Mars is at 27 Capricorn -- conjunct the Declaration of Independence's natal -- er -- Pluto. These planets oppose Bush's secretive/covert 12th house Saturn. Hence, we can see how he and Cheney (Harken Energy/Halliburton) are "fated" to join the unworthy ranks of those who perpetuate such misery by mistaking "globalization" with the calling card for Democracy. Someone "up there" needs to get it straight. Money is money. It is not a political theory. Nor is it a form of governance.

This may seem more esoteric, but two important factors line up between the NYSE's Progressed and Solar Arc Directed charts. SA Neptune at 23 Taurus will, in three years time, reach 26 Taurus: Caput Algol, or the most malevolent fixed star in the heavens. The top of one's head comes off. It is associated in ancient times with the beheading of kings. The Neptune-of-scandals, by Solar Arc, matches up pretty well with Election 2004. Neptune will conjoin the Democratic Party's natal Mercury (26 Taurus) Gore's natal Venus (big money) and Lieberman's natal Uranus. No matter how you plot it out, no one wins. Bush may well be going down, but what would the Democrats inherit after 4 years of the Right Wing? And who can cure it? Presently, Solar Arc Neptune is in square to the NYSE's progressed Uranus at 23 Leo. With Progressed Uranus in quincunx to its progressed Venus in Capricorn, we meet "death to pie in the sky." Progressed Mars conjoined to the USA's birth Pluto are in square to the NYSE's Solar Arc Directed South Node at 27 Libra. the NYSE's natal Saturn of "blowback" opposes this nodal configuration lending more credence to what I mentioned in my Starcats article <"http://starcats.com/capingress.html"> Capricorn Ingress 2000. "There Goes The Money."

I need to mention again that the USA's progressed Sun is conjoined to its natal Moon (the people) and both are taking a hit from transiting Uranus: political destiny uncontrolled by the masses. The Uranian upset of the people's trust, wealth and security are nearly unparalleled in the USA's history, except perhaps for the Carpetbagging of the South post Civil War and the Great Depression of 1929. If history is any valid indicator, and if astrology's grand cycles are worth their salt, I wouldn't give a plug nickel for either Bush's or Greenspan's "assurances."

The Full Moon of July 24th finds the Sun at 1 Aquarius, nestled between Inauguration Sun (0 Aquarius) and its progressed Sun (2 Aquarius). Neptune at 6 Aquarius in the IN chart was conjoined to the USA's South Node in its second house of the people's money. That alone tipped me off to my now-famous "There Goes the Money" quote of December 2000. Pluto retrograde will conjoin INAUG Pluto on August 26th. Of course, Bush will be on his one month vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas then. The world goes to hell while Bush fiddles might be an apt description. Neptune of scandal and prevarication, now at 9 Aquarius retrograde, hikes back to 8 Aquarius by October 20th. It will be two degrees shy of a conjunction with the USA's South Node again. The mid-term elections of 2002 are set for November 4, 2002. Rumors abound that Bush "believes" that if he stays quiet, he'll be able to ride this out. I don't think so. Here's what I figured out from June 10, 2002 Solar Eclipse "Newsmakers,":

"Uranus is the most important planet in politics, bar none. Uranus is about reform, new orders, iconoclasm, the shattering of the Saturnian status quo. Uranus, ruler of Aquarius (the sign opposite "autocratic" Leo), is the shadow component hidden within Leo's unconscious -- "the divine right of kings," or a manifest destiny of the "divine child." (Bush has a Leo Ascendant. His "enemy" is his 7th house Aquarius where Neptune of subterfuge, "blindness," and the real enemy unseen is currently transiting). If we simply understand Uranus (located in the 10th house of Bush's inauguration chart) as Bush's vision for a "new world order" (shades of Daddy Bush) eclipsing that vision indicates an absolute loss of control. Uranus is the cosmic "trump card." Hence, it is neigh to impossible to predict just how Uranus or Uranus eclipsed may manifest. What we know for certain is that Uranus upsets "the best laid plans of mice and [wo]men." It may be that this eclipse presages the end of Dubya's free-reign raid upon the United States of America. Note that Jupiter has passed the USA's Sun and Dubya's birth Sun (as has the second goodie, Venus). Jupiter will not re-meet the Sun at 13 Cancer for another 12 years now. Jupiter, associated with politics and politicians (and good luck) has abandoned Bush for other turf. Yes, Jupiter will enter Leo and conjoin Bush's Ascendant, Venus, Mercury and Pluto. But before that, it will oppose transiting Neptune in Bush's 7th house where he is now utterly blind. t-Jupiter conjoining his natal Pluto (eventually) may make him richer, but before that, its opposition to Neptune may make him drunk. Literally."

I think it rather hilarious that Bush mentioned that we have to recover from "the binges" of the 1990's and that we must be suffering from a hangover.

Footnotes

¹ Keith Phillips' quote refers to Alexander Hamilton's plan for the creation of the Bank of the United States:

"On becoming the first secretary of the treasury in 1789, Alexander Hamilton presented Congress with a bold economic program. To secure the creditworthiness of the new U.S. government, he called for redeeming at full face value not only U.S. wartime debts and certificates but the debt by speculators at very low prices. The second proposal was to establish in Philadelphia a national depository to be called the Bank of the United States. . .Despite the longer-term merits of Hamilton's proposals, they immediately benefited the wealthy Federalist elites. ..."Assumption and funding," as Hamilton's debt redemption provisions were called, provided the nation's first cornucopia for financial speculators. ... cliques of wealthy Federalist supporters and officeholders, using travel agents, had bought as many of the federal and state debt instruments as possible at cut-rate prices.... from veterans, widows, and storekeepers." [Those who needed immediate cash and had to sell in order to survive after the war for Independence.]

"Wealth and Democracy by Keith Phillips, 2002, Broadway Books, pgs. 16-17.

Starcats, July 21, 2002.