Too Big To Fail?

The prevailing sentiment in America today is that we are ‘too big to fail'. Failure, in fact, is no longer an option. It is off the table. So if there should be a failure, the task is not to find out why, reverse course, and try again; but rather to clothe failure in some semblance of success by introducing such terms as ‘new norm’, ‘outright lie’, and ‘unexpected’. Metrics, like ‘consumer confidence’ and ‘jobs saved’, come to the fore as being the lynchpins in maintaining the illusion of life in what is essentially dead.

As such, we overlook the fact that our government has failed, that our economy is failing, that our media and system of education are not doing the job despite the billions poured into them. We also overlook overwhelming public sentiment that we are fooling ourselves and projecting an image that is paper thin where substance is concerned.

We spend huge sums on Super Bowl half-time shows that are bereft of talent; and, as such, embarrassing. The person hired to sing our National Anthem never even bothered to learn the words properly.

Our economy has become so much paper-mâché, it would take a mere breeze to punch through it. All the signs of pathology are there in plain sight. A house bought in 1960 for $36,000 has not been improved or grown in size. Yet, on today’s market it would fetch 10 times as much. Same with cars, a gallon of gas, milk, cigarettes - you name it. Nothing has essentially changed. A house is still a house, a car is still a car, milk is still milk, etc. What has changed is the money it takes to buy these things. It has lost value. It has become wholly arbitrary, relative to the value of any given item.

Money is the only metric it is still possible for us to manipulate; to give the impression that we are doing well. The ‘fixes’ have become wildly irrational (the HuffPost-AOL deal, for example). People no longer have confidence in what we’re doing is right. They’ve decoupled. They’re sitting on their hands, hobbled by uncertainty, distrust, and a sense of revolution. This is something taking place within our own country right now - that no one wishes to acknowledge. It’s a bloodless revolution, but no less effective. And it will ultimately bring the house down.

It no longer matters what Bernanke does, or how much or little he does. It doesn’t even matter if he’s there or not. Ditto, Obama. What matters is that the people are no longer behind any of it. And, without popular support, the whole system winds down and descends into chaos.

There is now some question as to if it’s being done deliberately or not. It might just be that America’s enemies are riding a wave, claiming credit.

In a world turned upside-down, the relative vitality of a thing is now measured by how much enthusiasm can be drummed up to destroy it. This would put Hosni Mubarak right up there, along with Sara Palin and Michelle Bachmann.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Value vs. Money

Again, this assumes that government can create jobs. Government cannot create jobs. It can create a climate conducive to job creation or it can do the opposite. The jobs government creates are not ‘real’ jobs. They are jobs dependent on political patronage.

Government can insert itself and re-distribute the wealth created by real jobs in the private sector, but it cannot create or re-distribute ‘value‘. The honest money poured into unproductive sectors is money wasted. The tipping point is reached when too much wastage starves the private sector (where value is created) out of existence.

With the rise of autocratic dictatorial regimes at the expense of democracies, it is inevitable that job creation suffers. This political trend has now also taken root in Washington.

America was well known throughout the world as a place where it was still possible to come and make something of oneself. The business climate was considered to be ‘friendly‘. This is changing. High taxes and regulations have virtually ground business in America to a halt. In order to stay in business these days you have to first ingratiate yourself to the party in power and then wait for them to give you your arbitrary allotment of wavers and handouts. It’s called crony capitalism and it never works well.

There’s no mystery as to how capitalism functions and how ‘real’ value is generated. A man goes to work for a firm and receives a salary. His salary is predicated on how much he can be expected to contribute to the firm’s bottom line. If his skills are independent of the firm’s structure, he can eventually go out and start his own business. He will then begin to hire people keeping the same principle in mind: he will pay them a percentage of what they can be expected to contribute to the new firm’s success.

An athlete is paid according to how many people his presence can bring into the stadium. An actor is paid according to how many people his talent can attract to movie theaters. It is their talent that is valuable. The money generated by any such transactions can go up in smoke in an instant. The value of individual talent, skill and perseverance remains. A good actor will always eat.

Not many of us are blessed with outstanding attributes such as John Batchelor’s golden-throated voice and keen wit; or even with the ability to think effectively on our feet. Yet, we too can be a part of the system. We have other, perhaps less spectacular, attributes to deal. And we too, if we apply ourselves, can earn a modest, but secure, living.

Enter big government that blocks all normal processes and throws the whole system into confusion. Now nobody can be secure. The rules change with the political winds. It’s difficult to plan and even harder to trust - and the whole thing breaks down to be replaced by … what?

At this point, it could be anything - a new currency, gold, indentured servitude, work camps. With capitalism discredited, one’s work can no longer save one. Things are apt to become a whole lot more arbitrary and complicated. For one thing, America may soon not have to worry about its immigration problem as opportunity continues to fade; and there won’t be much left to bother blowing up anymore.
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A note about education: Education no longer teaches discipline and skills. Education has become so devalued in America (and elsewhere) that it represents little more than a (hall) pass for entrance into the entrenched elite classes‘ washrooms. Additionally, education nowadays consists primarily of learning to spout political propaganda points.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Republicans On Steroids

Many wordsmiths have cut their teeth exploiting gold and all its ancillary aspects such as greed, avarice, crime and poverty. The higher message all along has been that “money can’t buy me love” or health, dignity and the like – and that it often works to the detriment of the finer virtues.

When talking about gold and/or money we essentially talk about ‘value’. What is valuable in this day and age? The ‘rarity’ of any given commodity is certainly a factor. Gold is rare; as is talent, know-how, hard work, innovation, inspiration, etc. When the political class tells us that everyone is equal, it denies the notion of rarity as well as individual pursuit of excellence. It denies value at its core. The only thing left, then, is gold.

The rise in gold prices reflects the disillusionment with the political class world-wide. Nobody appears to be standing up for value. Bailouts signal a dangerous trend. It means that failure is on par with success. This is not something that inspires confidence. It means that nothing we do can lift us above the average mean; that we are in essence trapped in the prison of the ‘common good’; that all that is left for us to do is to hoard gold - a fleeting reminder of a golden age when America was exceptional (the gold standard) – to build it into shining but soulless pyramids to sit atop in watch out for equally soulless thieves. Eventually we will feel inclined even to abandon our golden perches as the impulse to exercise our bodies becomes increasingly compelling.

The skyrocketing price of gold signals our misgivings about where we are heading. November elections are routinely hyped as our salvation. But what is the alternative? Republicans? American voters are not impressed by the prospect of Republicans taking up the reigns either. They’ve tried that before and it only managed to get them Obama – Republicans on steroids.

Only Value Will Have Value

Wonderful explanation of how all of it intersects in Jerusalem and how any possible resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - whether in blood or peace - will have wider repercussions throughout much of the world. Nice to know that Netanyahu - unlike Washington and Riyadh - is resisting the easy, shameful solutions. In the end, character always wins out.

There may be a timetable to this (peace talk) farce that everyone appears to be perpetuating so desperately at this particular time. Yes, there's the succession struggle within the House of Al-Saud. But that's a factor in every house and cannot be considered as unusually significant. The startlingly new element is the collapse of the dollar and that of financial paper in general. It means that the House of Al-Saud will see itself stripped of influence. All the money they have amassed over the years is about to be unmasked to show that nothing of value was ever done with it. The currencies themselves - surely stored in large, elaborate vaults - might just as well be stored in incinerators.

In the new world order, only value will have 'value'. Mere money in the hands of the undeserving will turn to sand. That time is near. It will happen before Obama's first term ends. It will unleash a maelstrom, sweeping aside all the corrupt and broken pieces. There will also be much collateral damage. Only 'value' will survive - and 'character'. The Saudis, as well as most of the rest of the Middle East, are not particularly strong on either point.