As the Status Quo unravels/devolves, the propaganda becomes less and less persuasive as an account of how the world actually works. Alternative explanations suddenly "make sense." For me, the neo-colonial "plantation" model of financial/political exploitation and oppression neatly explains how America functions in the real world: debt-serfs, a Technocratic Caste of enforcers/managers, etc., just like on a colonial plantation ruled by a distant, cloaked, unreachable Elite. Others have different models, but the key feature is that each alternative explanation disrupts and subverts the Status Quo narrative. This process cannot be co-opted or stopped. The only question left to be answered going forward is how much pain and suffering the Status Quo Power Elites and their armies of technocrat toadies, lackeys and prostitutes will impose on the nation before their grip on power is finally relinquished … I favor direct, perfectly legal action by individuals and households to divest themselves of servitude/complicity in the Status Quo. – Charles Hugh Smith

Dominant Social Theme: There are many things people can do to protest the way things are …

Free-Market Analysis: Over at AmpedStatus, Charles Hugh Smith has some words of wisdom for the burgeoning protest movement Occupy Wall Street. He has some specific advice for protestors on how to opt out of the system and since it is a long article we will boil it down below, as there is much wisdom in it.

And yet … we have asked for over a month now why Occupy Wall Street still is not focused on ending central banking? (Of course, we understand that is a STATED goal, but not one that it seems to us is receiving enough real-time attention by the movement and certainly not by the mainstream media covering it!)

We admit we're somewhat monomaniacal on the subject. But no matter how we look at it, ending central banking often seems to get "lost in the shuffle." There are so many prescriptions for fighting back against a system that is increasingly exploitative and aggressive. But the foundational issue is central banking and here criticism still seems to lag – even on a website as hard-hitting, committed and progressive as AmpedStatus.

Maybe part of the problem is that there are so many OTHER actions to take. One can campaign to take physical delivery of silver to help end Wall Street's precious metals manipulation. Occupy Wall Street itself seems focused on taking money out of politics and removing corporate influence in government.

Other solutions suggested by such individuals as Matt Taibbi include additional taxation that would damp down Wall Street speculation or the idea from Adbuster magazine's founder of a one-percent tax on all securities trades. Many Occupy Wall Street protestors want a millioinaire's tax.

Mr. Charles Hugh Smith is quite practical and eloquent in his suggestions, so maybe we don't mind so much that he doesn't deal with central banking. Here's more:

There are other direct actions we can take in the privacy of our own lives and homes. The basic idea is simple: stop being complicit in an exploitative, oppressive Status Quo, and stop passively accepting the governance of prostitutes and pimps and the lackeys they appoint (Geithner, Bernanke, et al.) It is perfectly legal (so far) to be debt-free, to own silver and to vote against the two criminal gangs that run Whoretown (Washington, D.C.)

Demonstrating is a good way to join in common cause and to raise awareness within the passive public, but being debt-free and thus a free citizen is even more powerful. Removing your debt and interest from Wall Street and the other systemically dangerous institutions (SDIs) will cripple their power in a way that toothless political reforms cannot.

Becoming a free, independent citizen won't solve all our nation's problems, but it will certainly enable solutions that are now impossible in the current neo-feudal, neo-colonial plantation run by Wall Street and Washington.

Charles Hugh Smith's new book is An Unconventional Guide to Investing in Troubled Times. It certainly sounds as if it has many interesting ideas on how people can become more self-sufficient in a time of great economic stress. Even without having read it, we recommend it.

But here at DB, we always return to the bottom line issue, which is that money stuff itself is entirely fungible in the modern age and controlled by a handful of individuals, great central banking families and their associates and enablers.

There are so many suggestions. Drop out of the system. Raise taxes on those who benefit from the current system. Pressure the Democratic Party to remove money from politics. Protest against corporate money and influence. Indict Wall Street and put everyone in jail.

In this special Friday issue, focused relentlessly on central banking issues, we offer the following modest proposal: How about continuing an aggressive campaign to end the Fed via the voluntary (and legal) use of alternative money, and through peaceful but aggressive non-violent means of protest and political activity? And while we're at it, target the BIS as well.