In Milton Friedman’s world, profits are god—more important than an end to poverty, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To Milton Friedman thinking, the only way to end poverty is for the top 1% to earn more than the bottom 99%, and to see that those earnings for the 1% continue to increase while the net worth of the 99% continues to shrink.

And here’s a perfect example of how this thinking works: The Hunger Games franchise.

The latest Hunger Games film, Mockingjay  – Part 1,  came out on November 21, and the next day, Saturday, I read a major media financial news piece about  how this film was a loser, because it didn’t earn more money its first weekend than the previous Hunger Games film, Catching Fire.  Before I reached the end of this piece, it mentioned how the stock prices had dropped for the production company behind the film due to this horrible opening. IMDb.com

Now for a dose of reality—production costs for all three films compared to the total box office to the date of this post:

The Hunger Games cost $78 million to produce, but total global box office earnings reached $692.3 million its first 168 days.

Did this film lose money, and what was the profit margin?

Catching Fire cost $130 million, but total global box office earnings reached $864.9 million in its first 133 days

Did this film lose money, and what was the profit margin?

Mockingjay – Part 1 cost $125 million, but total global box office earnings reached $480 million in 10 days.

Did this film lose money, and what was the profit margin?

Does Mockingjay – Part 1 look like a loser to you? It does to anyone who worships at the altar of Milton Friedman, because profits must always show an improvement over the last quarter. There is no room for DOWN. There is only room for UP.

To Milton Freedom, Greed is god, but what does the Bible say about Greed?

That is what Milton Friedman economic thinking looks like—if you worship at Milton Friedman’s altar of GREED, you worship wealth acquisition anyway you can get it even if those methods cause the extinction of homo sapiens by destroying the earth’s environment.

For instance, the Tea Party movement, funded by the devout Catholic, professed libertarian Koch brothers, is not interested in facts, truth or reality. The Tea Party was born on a platform of lower taxes and less spending ONLY after Obama—an African-American—was elected president, who is, surprise, surprise, a Milton Friedman neo-liberal.

No one who follows the Tea Party movement blindly will mention, discuss or admit that three GOP presidents since 1945, are responsible for 62% of the federal National Debt of $17.9 Trillion: Presidents Reagan and the two Bushes, and it was Reagan who ushered in the era of Milton Friedman economics that is a major force behind the corporate war on the public schools in the United States.

There have been 12 presidents since 1945 starting with Truman.

The federal National Debt this morning hit about $17.9 Trillion, and $10.64 Trillion of that debt came from those three GOP presidents thanks to Milton Friedman’s insane theory of greed-based economics.

By the way, the Koch brothers are also funding the propaganda campaign to deny that Global Warming is caused by carbon emissions. Guess what the foundation of their great wealth is based on?

oil

And don’t expect anyone who worships at Milton Friedman’s altar of greed to mention the country that reduced global poverty  by 90 percent in the last 30 years—Communist China.

Milton Friedman thinking leads to Disaster Capitalism

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Lloyd Lofthouse is a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam Veteran,
who taught in the public schools for thirty years (1975 – 2005).

His third book is Crazy is Normal, a classroom exposé, a memoir. “Lofthouse presents us with grungy classrooms, kids who don’t want to be in school, and the consequences of growing up in a hardscrabble world. While some parents support his efforts, many sabotage them—and isolated administrators make the work of Lofthouse and his peers even more difficult.” – Bruce Reeves

Lofthouse’s first novel was the award winning historical fiction My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. His second novel was the award winning thriller Running with the Enemy. His short story A Night at the “Well of Purity” was named a finalist of the 2007 Chicago Literary Awards. His wife is Anchee Min, the international, best-selling, award winning author of Red Azalea, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year (1992).

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