Naked Capitalism: Kickin’ Ass for All of Us

By Naked Capitalism reader crittermom

It’s time for an important fundraiser to keep this site operating. I hope those of you that can give will give generously (the Tip Jar tells you how).

I’d like to share what Naked Capitalism. has meant to me…

I honestly can’t remember when I stumbled upon Naked Capitalism, but as a nature photographer I’ll always remember what initially grabbed my attention. It was an awesome photo in the Antidote du Jour that day. How could I have known at the time what that would lead to?

I scrolled down and some of the links got my attention. I began to read those that sounded most interesting to me. What an eye opener! As someone who hadn’t subscribed to TV or newspapers for many, many years, I had finally found the truth in news.

Each day I revisited the site. While admitting I always enjoyed the Antidote du Jour and found myself anxious to see the new one each morning, it became the links that really brought me back each day. I found myself getting an education like never before. I began to devour the knowledge & yearn for more.

My biggest regret is that I hadn’t discovered NC years earlier. I would have better understood what was happening and probably not become a victim of HAMP, losing my beloved ranch and everything I’d worked a lifetime for. But then, hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it?

I confess that some of the news, especially financial, remains a bit over my head, yet I understand more and more as I continue to educate myself with the help of this site.

It has also made me politically active for the first time in my life. I now write and call Representatives and sign petitions, voicing my opinion and reminding them they represent me as a citizen. For the first time I’ve truly become an educated voter.

I try to educate others about subjects now, as well. I’m able to give them actual facts that they don’t hear on MSM, hopefully opening their mind to more than the propaganda by those who are in control of the news. I refer many to this site.

Early this year I was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. I’ve spent my year driving myself hundreds of miles for tests and chemotherapy at the cancer center every three weeks. My Dr is treating it very aggressively. The side effects can be quite bizarre but I’m handling it.

It’s a journey I’m forced to take alone since being thrown out of my home and only being able to find an affordable place to rent afterward in another state, away from friends and my only family, my son and his wife.

The cancer has never scared me, however. In truth, it pales in comparison to losing my home. I’ve know since I was diagnosed that I would rid myself of it with the help of modern medicine and my knowing I would. (I believe the mind is the most powerful medicine).

I will soon finish chemo and go on to major surgery and radiation, to be followed by a year of more surgery. The treatments are working. I’m a star patient, as I’d told the Dr I would be from day one.
I have no fear of the cancer taking away any more from me. It will certainly not take my life. Not an option.

What I do fear is where I see our world heading. It terrifies me, actually. Much more than cancer ever could.

Growing up in rural southern Michigan, I still remember at 16 watching the orange glow in the sky as Detroit burned during the riots of ’67. Two years later it was so refreshing to see people of all colors come together in harmony for a little festival called Woodstock. A generation coming together in peace.

Now I’m witnessing a division once again, based on the color of ones skin or monetary class, at a time when we most need to come together for the good of all of us and our planet.

I’ve watched the voices of so many in favor of a most popular presidential candidate silenced leading up to the election, as the wealthiest of citizens took control of the election and controlled the news.

I see the division as being perpetrated by the very wealthiest in the name of greed, to keep us divided for their own benefit. (99% is a much larger number than 1% and difficult to rule).

Distractions abound to keep so many from seeing what is really happening within our own government and the world. I cry as I watch the rape of our planet, in the name of monetary gain.

The truth cannot be found in MSM. It can only be found on sites such as NC, which is what makes this site so very important. I strongly believe Naked Capitalism is the best tool for bringing the 99% together for the common good off all people and our planet.

From reading the comments, it’s obvious many of the commentariat are well educated, yet there are others such as myself who may only possess a high school. education, but we are all made to feel welcome. We are treated as equals here.

We come to this site not divided by race, sex, monetary status, education level, age, nor even country. We come to this site because we are tired of the lies and propaganda, and seek the truth. We all share a common goal, which is to make it a better world to best benefit all of us, not just the 1%.

I want to see this site reach more and more people, awakening us from a feeling of helplessness. Mere apathy will gain us nothing.

Naked Capitalism is first and foremost a financial site, revealing waste in government spending and diversion of funds from programs that benefit many, to those that benefit the most wealthy. But it is so much more than that. For someone like me, it has been an awakening.

I, for one, am not going through all of this treatment just to live under a dictatorship of the 1%. I still believe in “Of the people, by the people, for the people.”

For now I must concede my once very long hair, eyebrows, eyelashes (and even my toenails and fingernails as I now watch them fall off), to the cancer treatments. But I will never concede my freedom or yearning for equality. I want my voice to be heard.

NC has been educating and enlightening people for more than a decade now. It’s a voice that needs to be even louder. I see it as the voice of the 99%. I strongly believe this site is one of the best tools for helping to bring our world back into balance.

If my story has touched you, please, please donate. The Tip Jar tells you how to give by check, credit card and debit card. If you send a check, please be sure to e-mail Yves at yves@nakedcapitalism.com with the subject line “Check is in the mail” so she can include your donation in the fundraiser tally.

If you still haven’t been moved to do so, may I offer an incentive? Each photographer has their “picture of a lifetime” they were fortunate enough to capture. I would like to share mine with you, for the first time. Its titled “Kickin’ Ass”. It’s the photo I felt was most appropriate since that’s what I feel this site is.

It’s of my miniature burros I was forced to give away when my humble ranch was stolen by the bank. The baby is less than 12 hours old and that’s the mother keeping the father away from him. (The jack was okay. He’d snapped his head back just in time and didn’t lose any teeth!)

If you enjoy this photo, please donate. If you enjoyed it a lot, please donate even more. It’s for a most important cause – to keep this site alive and growing for the benefit of all of us and our planet.

Thank you.