The bottom line for the vast majority of us is that there is an extremely high price to be paid for independence from fealty to the State or Corporate America.

It's jolly good fun to discuss alternatives to the doomed status quo, but what choice do most of us have to participating in the current system, even if we loathe it? The lack of choice is of course a key characteristic of the status quo– if alternatives were plentiful, how many would opt out of Corporate America and the Financial Nobility's manor house of debt servitude?

The absence of alternatives results from several interacting dynamics.The first is false choice, the illusion of choice that enables the Powers That Be to claim we live in a democracy that is also a meritocracy where anyone can rise to the top if they follow the prescribed pathway: a four-year university degree, followed by a graduate degree, and so on.

The political slaughterhouse has two entrances: Democratic and Republican. Nothing about the system changes regardless of which door you enter. “Democracy” is a false choice in a nation in which the big banks order their politico flunkies, toadies and lackeys to do their bidding: Fed Vice Chairman Shocked At Wall Street Influence After Jamie Dimon “Whips” Congressional Votes.

Going to college is also a false choice, given that those who choose not to get a 4-year degree are (we're assured) doomed to lifelong financial insecurity. Meanwhile, having a 4-year degree does little to guarantee an escape from lifelong financial insecurity.

The second factor is the status quo grants all the advantages to global corporations and the central state.The mechanisms used to enforce these advantages are both numerous and well-masked. One is cheap, limitless access to capital–what I call free money for financiers. Imagine how many profitable assets you could buy if you too could borrow $1 billion at .25% interest from the Federal Reserve or another central bank.