The Center
The common man and woman is the center: 2/3 or more of the American people simply want to lead their lives with fairness, hope and some security. They want the government out of their bank accounts and bedrooms. They do not want to be pushed around by bureaucrats or billionaires. They are a sleeping tiger.
The Fringes
The fringes are represented by talk radio and NPR.
The Right
The billionaires on the right and their propaganda machines want to keep the people vulnerable and divided. "They" want no government so "they" can loot and pillage the people and get more wealth and power. They want to enserf the people with economic pressure.
The Left
The left wants to turn everyone into a government employee whom "they" can control with all sorts of regulations and restrictions on freedom. They despise Joe Sixpack; they think the common man and woman is stupid and unruly and needs to be "led" forcefully, like a herd of sheep, to live the life of a ... serf.
Both Fringes often team up in that Dark City in the swamp, aka Washington DC. Hmmm DC = Dark City, or maybe City of Darkness ? Certainly it's not a City of Light or that Shining City on a Hill, and definitely not St. Augustine's City of God.
The People
The principle problem the people not have is that they are being distracted and herded by the baying of the wolves on either side. They have no leader or leadership group - no vanguard party (to borrow Lenin's concept). They are pushed hither and thither, but going nowhere. Both sides are picking them off a few at a time, enserfing more and more people.
Politically, the door is wide open for a new Party of the Center; the barn door is wide open; one could drive a Mack truck thru ... if there was a driver.
The ideology would be Free Fraternalism (or something like it), but there's no driver - no leader.
Let's keep scanning the horizon for a leader, a big fellow on a white horse, an honest man (or woman) to support. Maybe one will appear.
Actions
None yet. Krypto still has a weak sell signal on some gold, but we usually wait for a strong signal in that volatile asset class. TIPs are not yet at favorable prices; those need QE2 to end to get Treasury bond prices down for less than 10 year maturities.
Word of the Day
"Revenant" - noun [$10]
Revenant means a person who has returned, especially supposedly from teh dead.
Sentence: Newt Gingrich wants to be a political revenant, but he has little support among the common man and woman.
Showing posts with label ideology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ideology. Show all posts
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, November 1, 2010
What's Going On?
Thinking over the changes that have occurred in the US over 45 years and some intriguing ideas of a friend of mine about a "coup", I noticed some parts of two books by Alvin Gouldner that perhaps had some connection. Below I rough out this sculpture of a government run by a New Class - not the middle class or the Left or the Right or any of the usual suspects.
The strong and broad feeling exists in the US public that government is "out of control". Who's in charge? Mostly, all we can point to are entrenched Congresspersons, Wall Street money, big corporate bosses, highly paid lawyers, high level permanent officials in the bureaucracy, technocrats, on and on ... no one or nothing specific. Yet They seem to work in rough coordination to make our lives more complicated and to run more of it from DC or State capitals. And take more money and power for themselves.
They are bipartisan - government increased under Bush I, under Clinton, under Bush II and under Obama. It increased hugely under LBJ and Nixon and Carter, too. Only under Reagan was government power held in check a bit - only a bit since Congress during that period worked hard to increase their power. The Courts are part of the Them, too.
Who are They? Not pod people who secretly at night replace normal persons with controlled zombies. They aren't the proletariat, nor the bourgeoisie, nor a revolutionary vanguard party, not socialists or libertarians or aristocrats.
What do They have in common? Advanced degrees. They are a cluster of highly educated persons who see government as a source of power. They are using their human capital to gain more and more money and power through government power.
That an Educated Class exists is rather obvious. But how can parts of it become a group that seems to have taken over the nation? Easy - They believe in an ideology - a rational system of beliefs that give them social cohesion to work together for a common cause without even communicating with each other, without even knowing each other. The core principal is something like, "with government, all things can be better". It's a mutation of Plato's Philosopher King, or the "Optimates" of Rome - rule by the "best". It's an offshoot of Positivism, where science and learning chooses the best for the people and put their solutions into practice with governmental power. But these mutations act like cancers, metastasizing out to all branches of government in DC and the States.
Ideally, that slogan sounds good. BUT apply the analysis of Hayek that we used so successfully to gut Libertarianism as a workable principal of political economy. A ruthless segment of the Educated Class - a rotten core of rotters - would naturally want to claim more and more power and money to themselves. This is not a conspiracy - it's a simple result of a distribution of humanity. Some are people are angels, some are devils and there's mass in the middle. The rotters in the Educated Class have taken over.
Not a coup, but it seems like one since their takeover has been accelerating for years. They believe in more government and make it grow. They never put breaks on government nor cut it back nor simplify it. Why should or would They? That's how They get more power and money.
They are always saying They have a solution to endless problems, but never solve a problem. They just add more and more complexity to government - rules, taxes, regulations, huge and lengthy laws, courts that are arbitrary and capricious in decisions, more departmetns and programs, etc. They love complexity - that's how they hide from sight and obscure their intents. Who can understand what They do but more persons with advanced degrees. They marry each other and their children more into powerful positions in government, too.
The Media is part of Them, too. They always are using Boob Bait for the Bubbas to fool the people and gain power. Rational, thoughtful debate in the Media has disappeared since the 1970s. The Media today gives us People magazine crap, celebrities and sports, endlessly. Nothing like the "White Papers" or true documentaries of the 1960s. Nor real debates such as on that old old show, The Advocate or on Firing Line. The Media is the propaganda machine for Them. For all the professional degrees in Journalism, is there not less true "journalism" now versus decades ago?
What to do?
Anyone proposing solutions that are not simple and clean and easily understandable is likely a knave, a rotter in the Educated Class. Just say NO!
Any new governmental action that does not restrict the power of the Ruling Classes, or help the poor in simple ways is a subterfuge for Them to get more power.
When in Doubt, Vote Them Out.
If the KISS rule doesn't apply (Keep It Simple, Stupid"), don't believe Them.
Word of the Day
"Bruit" - verb, transitive and noun [$10] pronounced, 'broot' to rhyme with a tree 'root', the 'oo' is long; followed by about or abroad.
Bruit (verb) means to spread news of, repeat.
Bruit (noun - archaic) means 1. a rumor, 2. a din, a clamor, 3. a report.
Sentence: Let's all bruit about the existence of this rotten bunch of rotters in the Educated Class who are destroying our freedoms and economy. And kick Them out!
The strong and broad feeling exists in the US public that government is "out of control". Who's in charge? Mostly, all we can point to are entrenched Congresspersons, Wall Street money, big corporate bosses, highly paid lawyers, high level permanent officials in the bureaucracy, technocrats, on and on ... no one or nothing specific. Yet They seem to work in rough coordination to make our lives more complicated and to run more of it from DC or State capitals. And take more money and power for themselves.
They are bipartisan - government increased under Bush I, under Clinton, under Bush II and under Obama. It increased hugely under LBJ and Nixon and Carter, too. Only under Reagan was government power held in check a bit - only a bit since Congress during that period worked hard to increase their power. The Courts are part of the Them, too.
Who are They? Not pod people who secretly at night replace normal persons with controlled zombies. They aren't the proletariat, nor the bourgeoisie, nor a revolutionary vanguard party, not socialists or libertarians or aristocrats.
What do They have in common? Advanced degrees. They are a cluster of highly educated persons who see government as a source of power. They are using their human capital to gain more and more money and power through government power.
That an Educated Class exists is rather obvious. But how can parts of it become a group that seems to have taken over the nation? Easy - They believe in an ideology - a rational system of beliefs that give them social cohesion to work together for a common cause without even communicating with each other, without even knowing each other. The core principal is something like, "with government, all things can be better". It's a mutation of Plato's Philosopher King, or the "Optimates" of Rome - rule by the "best". It's an offshoot of Positivism, where science and learning chooses the best for the people and put their solutions into practice with governmental power. But these mutations act like cancers, metastasizing out to all branches of government in DC and the States.
Ideally, that slogan sounds good. BUT apply the analysis of Hayek that we used so successfully to gut Libertarianism as a workable principal of political economy. A ruthless segment of the Educated Class - a rotten core of rotters - would naturally want to claim more and more power and money to themselves. This is not a conspiracy - it's a simple result of a distribution of humanity. Some are people are angels, some are devils and there's mass in the middle. The rotters in the Educated Class have taken over.
Not a coup, but it seems like one since their takeover has been accelerating for years. They believe in more government and make it grow. They never put breaks on government nor cut it back nor simplify it. Why should or would They? That's how They get more power and money.
They are always saying They have a solution to endless problems, but never solve a problem. They just add more and more complexity to government - rules, taxes, regulations, huge and lengthy laws, courts that are arbitrary and capricious in decisions, more departmetns and programs, etc. They love complexity - that's how they hide from sight and obscure their intents. Who can understand what They do but more persons with advanced degrees. They marry each other and their children more into powerful positions in government, too.
The Media is part of Them, too. They always are using Boob Bait for the Bubbas to fool the people and gain power. Rational, thoughtful debate in the Media has disappeared since the 1970s. The Media today gives us People magazine crap, celebrities and sports, endlessly. Nothing like the "White Papers" or true documentaries of the 1960s. Nor real debates such as on that old old show, The Advocate or on Firing Line. The Media is the propaganda machine for Them. For all the professional degrees in Journalism, is there not less true "journalism" now versus decades ago?
What to do?
Anyone proposing solutions that are not simple and clean and easily understandable is likely a knave, a rotter in the Educated Class. Just say NO!
Any new governmental action that does not restrict the power of the Ruling Classes, or help the poor in simple ways is a subterfuge for Them to get more power.
When in Doubt, Vote Them Out.
If the KISS rule doesn't apply (Keep It Simple, Stupid"), don't believe Them.
Word of the Day
"Bruit" - verb, transitive and noun [$10] pronounced, 'broot' to rhyme with a tree 'root', the 'oo' is long; followed by about or abroad.
Bruit (verb) means to spread news of, repeat.
Bruit (noun - archaic) means 1. a rumor, 2. a din, a clamor, 3. a report.
Sentence: Let's all bruit about the existence of this rotten bunch of rotters in the Educated Class who are destroying our freedoms and economy. And kick Them out!
Friday, September 19, 2008
A Failure of Ideology
This financial crisis provides a clear example of critical flaws in pure economic libertarianism.
First, economic libertarianism fails to account for rapid dynamics of financial markets. Rapid changes can be so fast that theoretical counter feedbacks cannot even begin to reverse the excess.
Second, it fails to treat zero point problems, namely, that when a firm goes bankrupt, it collapses to near nothing. Reversal – recovery - cannot occur.
Third, the human emotion of fear is ignored in economic libertarianism. While even political libertarians recognize fear of violence as creating a legitimate governmental role, economic libertarians ignore this in financial markets.
Fourth, economic libertarianism assumes many small players acting in free markets, while financial markets often have huge pools of money that can directly influence prices with their own actions.
For these four reasons – rapid dynamics, zero point error, fear and big money pools – economic libertarian simply does not to provide a “Square Deal” for the common man without a central power to ensure fairness.
Here is an example:
A congeries of beefers use instant messages to pass false rumors that Bank X has huge hidden losses or has lost key customers. They start buying put options on Bank X stock and then all place large orders for credit default swaps of Bank X. Without securing real borrows on the stock, they sell short huge blocks of Bank X common stock, pressing it lower and lower with any uptick respite. Without natural writers, the credit default swap market in Bank X is overwhelmed and its spread blows out, increasing funding costs hugely. Fear for the credit of Bank X is inferred from this huge increase. Little cash is needed to buy these derivative and cause this fear.
More rumors appear in the financial press as the stock price fall is noted and people wonder why. The rating agencies, in search of credibility, put the firm onto credit watch because of its stock price, not for any fundamental reason. Fear grows and spreads.
Bank X soon cannot borrow funds are reasonable rates and begins to bleed cash and customers. The stock falls furthers. There is no time for management to get facts out, which are hard to present and understand by sophomoric financial press anyway. Soon the firm’s losses of customers and cash withdrawals become critical and …
All this could occur as beefers with trillions of funds can and do overwhelm normal market activity. Economic libertarianism permits these huge pools of money to act like raiding Vikings, plundering staid, defenseless monasteries with impunity. In 9th century Europe, no central government existed with powers to stop them. A century of havoc ensued across Europe from France to deep Russia to Sicily to Ireland.
And without some central power to hold back these raiders, massive economic turmoil can hurt the common man for decades.
The US SEC has completely failed in its core mission, viz., to regulate the markets. The SEC seems to have become the sandbox of economic libertarians to build castles in sand. Or perhaps they – the commissioners and staff – are simply corrupt, wanting to be loved by the beefers and law firms where they expect high paying jobs next year.
From news reports overnight, the US SEC may finally be acting. Certainly the new rules on short selling fraud will help. The resistance to this is almost ludicrous. Can you imagine how high stocks would go if buyers could “buy” stocks, not deliver their cash, and yet maintain the position? Yet until today, short sellers could do the analogous: sell short shares, never deliver the stock and keep the position. Incredible. That shows the power of the beefers over the SEC and its staff. Only a crisis is breaking this tangle of corruption and foolish ideology. Fools or knaves … knaves or fools ... or both ?
Actions by the UK FSA has led the way on short selling. Early this AM, the banks in the UK are having huge rallies in their stock prices. And there are reports the US SEC might finally do something to stop the raids of beefers.
Can anyone imagine how much the common man has been hurt by this SEC foolishness and / or knavery ? Honest John McCain is completely correct. The SEC Chairman should be fired.
Markets
Huge rally yesterday. I have no regrets on those sales on Tuesday, by the way. Without those, perhaps I would have sold all my stock on that huge fall on Wednesday. As happened, I protected my most important positions and was clear minded to make a quite profitable trade in MS. And if Hank the Tank had not acted to create a 21st century Reconstruction Finance Corp., that rally yesterday would not have occurred. One really must "Protect Yourself At All Times" in an aggressive fund like my Alpha Fund.
I closed out the MS trade with a fine profit. I suppose hindsight would say I should have held it as the stock will likely rise a lot more today, but ... a 25% one day profit is OK.
I will watch today and think. I want to keep my Alpha Fund size down as it was quite distracting for me recently. I didn't like having to watch it so much for the past few months - it has greatly interfered with my semi-retirement.
PS: “Free Trade” is another failure of economic libertarianism. The problems of rapid dynamics, zero point, and big money (in that case, other nations) cause its failure to provide promised benefits to the common man.
PPS: Babblevision reports that the SEC has prohibited short selling in 799 financial stocks until October 2. Beefers use of this tool to create fear now in abeyance.
Word of the Day
"Moloch" - noun [$10]
Moloch means 1a. (Moloch) a Canaanite idol to whom children were sacrificed; 1b. a tyrannical object of sacrifices; 2. a grotesque spiny slow moving Australian lizard.
Sentence: How many good paying jobs and savings of the common man have been fed to the moloch of pure economic libertarianism ? Honest John McCain understands this as he called for the firing of SEC Chairman Cox. Obama ... nope.
First, economic libertarianism fails to account for rapid dynamics of financial markets. Rapid changes can be so fast that theoretical counter feedbacks cannot even begin to reverse the excess.
Second, it fails to treat zero point problems, namely, that when a firm goes bankrupt, it collapses to near nothing. Reversal – recovery - cannot occur.
Third, the human emotion of fear is ignored in economic libertarianism. While even political libertarians recognize fear of violence as creating a legitimate governmental role, economic libertarians ignore this in financial markets.
Fourth, economic libertarianism assumes many small players acting in free markets, while financial markets often have huge pools of money that can directly influence prices with their own actions.
For these four reasons – rapid dynamics, zero point error, fear and big money pools – economic libertarian simply does not to provide a “Square Deal” for the common man without a central power to ensure fairness.
Here is an example:
A congeries of beefers use instant messages to pass false rumors that Bank X has huge hidden losses or has lost key customers. They start buying put options on Bank X stock and then all place large orders for credit default swaps of Bank X. Without securing real borrows on the stock, they sell short huge blocks of Bank X common stock, pressing it lower and lower with any uptick respite. Without natural writers, the credit default swap market in Bank X is overwhelmed and its spread blows out, increasing funding costs hugely. Fear for the credit of Bank X is inferred from this huge increase. Little cash is needed to buy these derivative and cause this fear.
More rumors appear in the financial press as the stock price fall is noted and people wonder why. The rating agencies, in search of credibility, put the firm onto credit watch because of its stock price, not for any fundamental reason. Fear grows and spreads.
Bank X soon cannot borrow funds are reasonable rates and begins to bleed cash and customers. The stock falls furthers. There is no time for management to get facts out, which are hard to present and understand by sophomoric financial press anyway. Soon the firm’s losses of customers and cash withdrawals become critical and …
All this could occur as beefers with trillions of funds can and do overwhelm normal market activity. Economic libertarianism permits these huge pools of money to act like raiding Vikings, plundering staid, defenseless monasteries with impunity. In 9th century Europe, no central government existed with powers to stop them. A century of havoc ensued across Europe from France to deep Russia to Sicily to Ireland.
And without some central power to hold back these raiders, massive economic turmoil can hurt the common man for decades.
The US SEC has completely failed in its core mission, viz., to regulate the markets. The SEC seems to have become the sandbox of economic libertarians to build castles in sand. Or perhaps they – the commissioners and staff – are simply corrupt, wanting to be loved by the beefers and law firms where they expect high paying jobs next year.
From news reports overnight, the US SEC may finally be acting. Certainly the new rules on short selling fraud will help. The resistance to this is almost ludicrous. Can you imagine how high stocks would go if buyers could “buy” stocks, not deliver their cash, and yet maintain the position? Yet until today, short sellers could do the analogous: sell short shares, never deliver the stock and keep the position. Incredible. That shows the power of the beefers over the SEC and its staff. Only a crisis is breaking this tangle of corruption and foolish ideology. Fools or knaves … knaves or fools ... or both ?
Actions by the UK FSA has led the way on short selling. Early this AM, the banks in the UK are having huge rallies in their stock prices. And there are reports the US SEC might finally do something to stop the raids of beefers.
Can anyone imagine how much the common man has been hurt by this SEC foolishness and / or knavery ? Honest John McCain is completely correct. The SEC Chairman should be fired.
Markets
Huge rally yesterday. I have no regrets on those sales on Tuesday, by the way. Without those, perhaps I would have sold all my stock on that huge fall on Wednesday. As happened, I protected my most important positions and was clear minded to make a quite profitable trade in MS. And if Hank the Tank had not acted to create a 21st century Reconstruction Finance Corp., that rally yesterday would not have occurred. One really must "Protect Yourself At All Times" in an aggressive fund like my Alpha Fund.
I closed out the MS trade with a fine profit. I suppose hindsight would say I should have held it as the stock will likely rise a lot more today, but ... a 25% one day profit is OK.
I will watch today and think. I want to keep my Alpha Fund size down as it was quite distracting for me recently. I didn't like having to watch it so much for the past few months - it has greatly interfered with my semi-retirement.
PS: “Free Trade” is another failure of economic libertarianism. The problems of rapid dynamics, zero point, and big money (in that case, other nations) cause its failure to provide promised benefits to the common man.
PPS: Babblevision reports that the SEC has prohibited short selling in 799 financial stocks until October 2. Beefers use of this tool to create fear now in abeyance.
Word of the Day
"Moloch" - noun [$10]
Moloch means 1a. (Moloch) a Canaanite idol to whom children were sacrificed; 1b. a tyrannical object of sacrifices; 2. a grotesque spiny slow moving Australian lizard.
Sentence: How many good paying jobs and savings of the common man have been fed to the moloch of pure economic libertarianism ? Honest John McCain understands this as he called for the firing of SEC Chairman Cox. Obama ... nope.
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