This post is not about the Ruling Classes (CEOs, government bureaucrats and politicians) who loot the public to get richer & more powerful while failing to deliver anything to the common man and woman. This post is about the beefers, aka big, evil funds, mostly private investment partnerships also known as hedge funds, who led the hoard of financial vikings who looted the nation before and during the Panic of 2008 and its aftermath. A new book shows that nearly the entire industry is a scam. The hedge fund managers make plenty of money, but the investors get nothing cumulatively. Remember that old book and adage about the financial industry during the Great Depression - "Where are the Customers' Yachts?". The hedge fund industry is a reprise writ large.
A review of "The Hedge Fund Mirage: The Illusion of Big Money and Why It's Too Good to be True" [Simon Lack, Wiley] in the weekend Financial Times contains all you need to know. "If all the money that's ever been invested in hedge funds had been put in Treasury bills instead, the results would have been twice as good."
More: "Never in the field of human finance has so much been charged for so little."
And: "The prime purpose of the sector is to provide jobs and wealth creation for the industry professionals: managers, consultants, allocators, prime brokers, and other service providers."
The total amount of money lost by hedge funds in the Panic of 2008 - "some $450bn-odd vaporised in a single year ... destroyed all the value that hedge funds ever created."
The managers made big money. "From 1998 to 2010, the cumulative split was just $9bn to investors versus $440bn to managers." That is a breathtaking vision of pure greed and fraud.
The author has the numbers and data to back up every conclusion ... and every smirk of disgust at the hogs at the trough. In the end, though, he blames the investors. They are the stupid cows being milked and leeched by the parasites in the hedge fund industry. They want to get ... more. And they get what they deserve - less.
Your author, the Bunkerman, has been saying and writing this for years, to the smirks and jibes of various pontificating (and well paid) pundits and some hedge fund managers themselves. It's nice to see Bunkerman proven right ... again.
Showing posts with label ruling class. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ruling class. Show all posts
Monday, February 20, 2012
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Arrogance of Wealth and Power. III.
"Davos" is a synonym for that arrogance. Every year that conference of the hegemonic classes and their bureaucratic allies makes me want to puke. The media go there to talk to the billionaires and others in the Ruling Classes and go goo-goo eyes, butt-kissing them endlessly about their wealth and power ... and "ideas". I just heard some Ruling Class puke talk about signing deals. Sheesh, at least he was honest and didn't give us the regurgitated lies that most of them do. Today again I reprise thoughts about "Davos" from prior years post around this time of year.
[from 1/29/2009 post of same title, numbered II.] “Davos" is the epitome of that syndrome. Rich and powerful people meet in a resort to discuss the "world economy", viz., how they can control the common man and bend him to their wishes. Is increasing human freedom a pillar of their goals ? ... No. Is increasing human culture and knowledge a goal ? ... No. They network among each other to exchange thinking on how to maintain and increase their control over ... the rest of us. Every year Davos makes me want to puke.
So is Davos about actually helping people .. or is it about using and creating fear and grabbing power so "they" can become new Dukes & Barons ? I think it's a bit of both, but the well-meaning fools seeking the former are being used as cover by those knaves seeking the latter. Are restrictions on the rich and powerful a subject at Davos ? What about regulation of hedge funds ? If they want to discuss how to control themselves, fine, that's an admirable topic. Otherwise, they should shut up and leave us alone.
[from 1/25/2008 post regarding "Changing Capitalism" and Davos] The system of freedom and private property works superbly, but the tendency for excess accumulations of wealth and power by a few needs to be somehow properly directed - social pressure would be best - and their tendencies to create aristocracies stopped. And their raiding parties need to be squashed.
For example, what philanthropist funds artists or mathematicians or writers or philosophers to increase human knowledge ? Mostly they pay big $ to museums to buy old masters or build new wings. Nothing new is created. Davos is full of them - those wanting a big monument to themselves. A few do good things to increase human knowledge. But just a few.
For example, a program to teach young children foreign languages would be incredibly valuable. The young can learn languages so easily. But is that done ? No.
I again reproduce the quote from Thucydides that sparked my thinking on this matter - I first read it referenced in Erasmus' "Praise of Folly". The quote is from the famous oration of Pericles."We cultivate refinement without extravagance and knowledge without effeminacy; wealth we employ more for use than for show, and place the real disgrace of poverty not in owning to the fact but in declining the struggle against it."
Unfortunately, too much wealth has been used to buy estates in the Hamptons or invested in hedge fund speculations. And not enough has been productively invested or used to increase human knowledge. That is the real problem.
[from 1/24/2007 post re Davos] Davos is a bunch a rich and / or powerful people trying to get richer & more powerful, colluding to push people around and suck more money and resources from them, like a bunch a leeches. Somehow the so-called solutions always have more powerful governments and bureaucracies. There are exceptions, but they are few.
Word of the Day
"Vitriolic" - adjective [$10]
Vitriolic means 1. something felt to resemble vitriol (sulfate of various metals) esp. in caustic quality; 2. esp. virulence of feeling or speech.
Sentence: Every year Davos causes me to post vitriolic writings about that wretched hive of scum and villainy. There! I did it again!
[from 1/29/2009 post of same title, numbered II.] “Davos" is the epitome of that syndrome. Rich and powerful people meet in a resort to discuss the "world economy", viz., how they can control the common man and bend him to their wishes. Is increasing human freedom a pillar of their goals ? ... No. Is increasing human culture and knowledge a goal ? ... No. They network among each other to exchange thinking on how to maintain and increase their control over ... the rest of us. Every year Davos makes me want to puke.
So is Davos about actually helping people .. or is it about using and creating fear and grabbing power so "they" can become new Dukes & Barons ? I think it's a bit of both, but the well-meaning fools seeking the former are being used as cover by those knaves seeking the latter. Are restrictions on the rich and powerful a subject at Davos ? What about regulation of hedge funds ? If they want to discuss how to control themselves, fine, that's an admirable topic. Otherwise, they should shut up and leave us alone.
[from 1/25/2008 post regarding "Changing Capitalism" and Davos] The system of freedom and private property works superbly, but the tendency for excess accumulations of wealth and power by a few needs to be somehow properly directed - social pressure would be best - and their tendencies to create aristocracies stopped. And their raiding parties need to be squashed.
For example, what philanthropist funds artists or mathematicians or writers or philosophers to increase human knowledge ? Mostly they pay big $ to museums to buy old masters or build new wings. Nothing new is created. Davos is full of them - those wanting a big monument to themselves. A few do good things to increase human knowledge. But just a few.
For example, a program to teach young children foreign languages would be incredibly valuable. The young can learn languages so easily. But is that done ? No.
I again reproduce the quote from Thucydides that sparked my thinking on this matter - I first read it referenced in Erasmus' "Praise of Folly". The quote is from the famous oration of Pericles."We cultivate refinement without extravagance and knowledge without effeminacy; wealth we employ more for use than for show, and place the real disgrace of poverty not in owning to the fact but in declining the struggle against it."
Unfortunately, too much wealth has been used to buy estates in the Hamptons or invested in hedge fund speculations. And not enough has been productively invested or used to increase human knowledge. That is the real problem.
[from 1/24/2007 post re Davos] Davos is a bunch a rich and / or powerful people trying to get richer & more powerful, colluding to push people around and suck more money and resources from them, like a bunch a leeches. Somehow the so-called solutions always have more powerful governments and bureaucracies. There are exceptions, but they are few.
Word of the Day
"Vitriolic" - adjective [$10]
Vitriolic means 1. something felt to resemble vitriol (sulfate of various metals) esp. in caustic quality; 2. esp. virulence of feeling or speech.
Sentence: Every year Davos causes me to post vitriolic writings about that wretched hive of scum and villainy. There! I did it again!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
The Power Struggle
The Ruling Class was dissected in this blog yesterday - who it is and what it does and how it got its power over a few decades. In summary, the Ruling Class in America is a synthesis of wealthy people who seek power and educated people who seek power. They use that power to control government to move it in directions that increase their incomes and power. They hide their actions under a blanket of mind-numbing complexity in laws and regulations and procedures.
The major communication media are willing partners. Their parasitical coexistence with government gives them special access to "news" and broadcast spectrum; in turn they serve as the propaganda bullhorn for the Ruling Class. Why else would Davos get the nonstop coverage that it does?
The people's struggle now - as many, many seem to recognize now that we've lost control over our own government - is how to vanquish the Ruling Class and get power back to the people.
"Tea party" groups are a start, but they need to recognize that many are being manipulated and partly controlled by billionaires in the Ruling Class who want new rules to permit them to increase their wealth & power.
Elections are crucial. Winning primary and general elections with honest candidates having the backbone - courage - to stand up to the Ruling Class in DC and the State governments and to say NO! NO MORE! Many governmental procedures require consents (implicit or otherwise) of many groups. Getting right thinkers' into power and their noncooperation will gum up the works - throw sand in the gears. They can force the Ruling Class to begin to negotiate and back down. Once the Ruling Class is stopped, the rollback can begin.
Incremental success is crucial. Once some success occurs, more and more people will likely recognize that they can take back their government and then join the movement. The movement needs to by-pass traditional media, but not ignore them. Blogs, web pages, social networking, small meetings and major rallies can work better IF used to pressure traditional media to get onto the bandwagon,. Their own profit motive will help that process.
The people need to elect a few honest people to government at all levels. Then they need to be strident and serve the people. Oppose ALL the devices of the Ruling Class to keep and get more power and income. Expose their sleaze. Call their press sycophants what they are: tools of the Ruling Class. That hurts them; they need an aura of credibility to sell ads and get viewers & subscribers. Fight and don't give up. Don't compromise. Demand what's Right!
This is really a 21st century class struggle (Common Man vs. Ruling Class), but I'm not going to use that term, as many, many people in the US have a negative reaction to that name. Fine. Why be dogmatic? Power Struggle is perfectly good name, too, and is more specific, too.
The movement needs an ideology for unity. An ideology lets people act in concert without direct coordination and cooperation. The ideology acts as a virtual bond between disparate people across the nation: it's like a long range force that permits a correlation of actions of otherwise independent people.
What is that ideology to be?
Long term readers can guess, but I will write about it tomorrow.
Word of the Day
"Trope" - noun [$10]
Trope means a figurative (e. g. metaphorical or ironical) usage of a word.
Sentence: Bunkerman's favorite trope is "hog"; it metaphorically fits the Ruling Class, all those overpaid CEOs and Wall Street leeches. Just imagine a passel of hogs slurping down they can get at the trough, jostling with each other, oinking away in delight and eating everything in sight. It fits perfectly.
The major communication media are willing partners. Their parasitical coexistence with government gives them special access to "news" and broadcast spectrum; in turn they serve as the propaganda bullhorn for the Ruling Class. Why else would Davos get the nonstop coverage that it does?
The people's struggle now - as many, many seem to recognize now that we've lost control over our own government - is how to vanquish the Ruling Class and get power back to the people.
"Tea party" groups are a start, but they need to recognize that many are being manipulated and partly controlled by billionaires in the Ruling Class who want new rules to permit them to increase their wealth & power.
Elections are crucial. Winning primary and general elections with honest candidates having the backbone - courage - to stand up to the Ruling Class in DC and the State governments and to say NO! NO MORE! Many governmental procedures require consents (implicit or otherwise) of many groups. Getting right thinkers' into power and their noncooperation will gum up the works - throw sand in the gears. They can force the Ruling Class to begin to negotiate and back down. Once the Ruling Class is stopped, the rollback can begin.
Incremental success is crucial. Once some success occurs, more and more people will likely recognize that they can take back their government and then join the movement. The movement needs to by-pass traditional media, but not ignore them. Blogs, web pages, social networking, small meetings and major rallies can work better IF used to pressure traditional media to get onto the bandwagon,. Their own profit motive will help that process.
The people need to elect a few honest people to government at all levels. Then they need to be strident and serve the people. Oppose ALL the devices of the Ruling Class to keep and get more power and income. Expose their sleaze. Call their press sycophants what they are: tools of the Ruling Class. That hurts them; they need an aura of credibility to sell ads and get viewers & subscribers. Fight and don't give up. Don't compromise. Demand what's Right!
This is really a 21st century class struggle (Common Man vs. Ruling Class), but I'm not going to use that term, as many, many people in the US have a negative reaction to that name. Fine. Why be dogmatic? Power Struggle is perfectly good name, too, and is more specific, too.
The movement needs an ideology for unity. An ideology lets people act in concert without direct coordination and cooperation. The ideology acts as a virtual bond between disparate people across the nation: it's like a long range force that permits a correlation of actions of otherwise independent people.
What is that ideology to be?
Long term readers can guess, but I will write about it tomorrow.
Word of the Day
"Trope" - noun [$10]
Trope means a figurative (e. g. metaphorical or ironical) usage of a word.
Sentence: Bunkerman's favorite trope is "hog"; it metaphorically fits the Ruling Class, all those overpaid CEOs and Wall Street leeches. Just imagine a passel of hogs slurping down they can get at the trough, jostling with each other, oinking away in delight and eating everything in sight. It fits perfectly.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The Composition of the Ruling Class
For quite some time I've defined the Ruling Class as the Rich & Powerful. Those are necessary conditions, but those criteria just tell us what people in the Ruling Class have .. not who they are. Human populations are distributions over many, many attributes: size, weight, the many dimensions of intelligence, capacity for love, and for ruthlessness, among hundreds or more. Not everyone who is Rich is in the Ruling Class. Perhaps even most are not. And what do we mean by "Rich"? Having lots of money? Nope, illiquid property could qualify. Or perhaps lots of "capital"? That's better AND it would include human capital - the value of one's education and technical skills. Lots of people in DC are not rich in money terms, but have lots of human capital AND have great power ... and they like using it.
That's a key criteria - willingness to use the money or power ... to tell everyone else how to live and to increase their own wealth & power. Let's call that attribute Ruthlessness.
Many people who are "Rich" live quiet lives, helping people in tough situations, helping communities, helping their children, helping nourish art & science, etc. And they don't even want their names emblazoned everywhere like some god or have their butts kissed regularly in some black-tie gala.
And many people with great human capital are not devoted to getting more money income. Some simply want to have "enough" and then spend their lives proving theorems or writing books or whatever. Getting a book award or a medal is plenty ... some simple recognition that their efforts are appreciated.
Others .. want to use that capital (money OR human capital) to tell common man how to live ... or to become a new Duke or Baron over the common man .,. or to be seen as the enlighten Prince with many courtiers asking a "by your leave" for permission for ... almost anything.
The New Ruling Class
WW I and WW II completely re-ordered world power bases, wiping out the old aristocracies, and the scientific, media and computer revolution have hugely increased the ability of government to ... govern. A Ruthless component of highly educated people saw Government as a means to increase the income on their human capital. And in government they would have a power base to protect themselves from outside forces. These people, with the connivance of Ruthless wealthy persons, have slowly taken over the US Government since the 1960s.
One can see it in the steady growth in the bureaucracy ... the increasing number of super-grade governmental executives ... the pay and benefits for these people ... and the power they command. Universities are addicted to Federal grants and many, many professors are part of the hive, too. They need grants to fund their research and will lend their human capital to help to increase governmental power. Is their any wonder why "studies" always find a need for a new program or policy, or support an existing policy?
Big Corporations are a fertile feeding ground for the educated to get better income on their human capital. As are law firms. And then the Ruthless among them want more .. and more. The pay is excellent and they they are invited to sit on councils and committees. And go to Davos. And influence their like-minded colleagues in government to send more of the people's money to their corporations and law firms. Why do you think that all stimulus money for large projects require lots and lots of studies done by consultants? That's how they pay off their brethren in the Ruling Class.
Think tanks in DC are part of the Ruling Class, too. The Rich fund these to lobby and generate polices that they want to impose on the people. The Think Tanks hire lots of highly educated people who want to be well-paid to create these policies ... to impose on the people. The same is true of the huge Foundations funded by the Rich.
Lobbying groups also create lots of highly paid jobs for the ruthless educated persons: the education lobby, the various corporate lobbies, the many other policy lobbies - all create jobs and power for the
The Ruthless among the educated persons are a critical part of the Ruling Class. Without them, the Ruling Class would be unable to .. Rule. The educated component also connive to make government incredibly complex - so complex that outsiders can't understand what's going on. That complexity is like a castle wall - a huge barrier to entry to protect the monopoly on governmental power for the Ruling Class.
People need to recognize this group ... they are also hogs at the trough. The new health care law has 2,000 pages for a reason: the Ruthless educated persons wrote it that way so they will have power over everyone. This is why tax laws are thousands of pages, why education rules consume volumes, why government contract bidding rules are voluminous, etc.
What about so-called independent commissions or independent studies? Look at the composition, who is doing the bulk of the work? Is a majority of the people truly independent of government - true outsiders? If not, distrust them. Just say No. Truly independent outsiders can give good advice and find answers. Ruling Class drones will not.
Two prime examples: (1) the Deficit Commission - almost all Congressman with absolutely no sources of independent information or thinking, and (2) the world climate commission (aka IPCC) - all members are addicted to governments grants or are Foundation trolls or are actually governmental representatives. Of course they "get the right answer" and try to censor dissent.
The people need to eject and dissolve all these chains on their lives; tear down these castles of the Barons of the Ruling Class. A friend of mine sees all that has changed in the US since the 1960s and wonders: Has there has been a Coup? If one looks at the beginning and the end, it would look like a coup has occurred. My conclusion is that we have experienced slow power struggle - the new Ruling Class, created by merging Rich & Powerful with the Ruthless educated persons, has taken power in the US. They now try to rule over the common man & woman and take more and more control and wealth from them.
A quote from poem, Four Quartets: The Dry Salvages, by T. S. Eliot fits: "We've had the experience, but missed the meaning." These changes have happened slowly for decades; we've noticed the changes but the meaning has been obscure until the cumulative change was very large over our lifetime. We all remember the freedom we once had .. and how prosperous the US once was. Let's recognize NOW what's happened and start changing the US now to become the great place it once was.
Tomorrow & Friday: How to do it.
Word of the Day
None today - out of time.
That's a key criteria - willingness to use the money or power ... to tell everyone else how to live and to increase their own wealth & power. Let's call that attribute Ruthlessness.
Many people who are "Rich" live quiet lives, helping people in tough situations, helping communities, helping their children, helping nourish art & science, etc. And they don't even want their names emblazoned everywhere like some god or have their butts kissed regularly in some black-tie gala.
And many people with great human capital are not devoted to getting more money income. Some simply want to have "enough" and then spend their lives proving theorems or writing books or whatever. Getting a book award or a medal is plenty ... some simple recognition that their efforts are appreciated.
Others .. want to use that capital (money OR human capital) to tell common man how to live ... or to become a new Duke or Baron over the common man .,. or to be seen as the enlighten Prince with many courtiers asking a "by your leave" for permission for ... almost anything.
The New Ruling Class
WW I and WW II completely re-ordered world power bases, wiping out the old aristocracies, and the scientific, media and computer revolution have hugely increased the ability of government to ... govern. A Ruthless component of highly educated people saw Government as a means to increase the income on their human capital. And in government they would have a power base to protect themselves from outside forces. These people, with the connivance of Ruthless wealthy persons, have slowly taken over the US Government since the 1960s.
One can see it in the steady growth in the bureaucracy ... the increasing number of super-grade governmental executives ... the pay and benefits for these people ... and the power they command. Universities are addicted to Federal grants and many, many professors are part of the hive, too. They need grants to fund their research and will lend their human capital to help to increase governmental power. Is their any wonder why "studies" always find a need for a new program or policy, or support an existing policy?
Big Corporations are a fertile feeding ground for the educated to get better income on their human capital. As are law firms. And then the Ruthless among them want more .. and more. The pay is excellent and they they are invited to sit on councils and committees. And go to Davos. And influence their like-minded colleagues in government to send more of the people's money to their corporations and law firms. Why do you think that all stimulus money for large projects require lots and lots of studies done by consultants? That's how they pay off their brethren in the Ruling Class.
Think tanks in DC are part of the Ruling Class, too. The Rich fund these to lobby and generate polices that they want to impose on the people. The Think Tanks hire lots of highly educated people who want to be well-paid to create these policies ... to impose on the people. The same is true of the huge Foundations funded by the Rich.
Lobbying groups also create lots of highly paid jobs for the ruthless educated persons: the education lobby, the various corporate lobbies, the many other policy lobbies - all create jobs and power for the
The Ruthless among the educated persons are a critical part of the Ruling Class. Without them, the Ruling Class would be unable to .. Rule. The educated component also connive to make government incredibly complex - so complex that outsiders can't understand what's going on. That complexity is like a castle wall - a huge barrier to entry to protect the monopoly on governmental power for the Ruling Class.
People need to recognize this group ... they are also hogs at the trough. The new health care law has 2,000 pages for a reason: the Ruthless educated persons wrote it that way so they will have power over everyone. This is why tax laws are thousands of pages, why education rules consume volumes, why government contract bidding rules are voluminous, etc.
What about so-called independent commissions or independent studies? Look at the composition, who is doing the bulk of the work? Is a majority of the people truly independent of government - true outsiders? If not, distrust them. Just say No. Truly independent outsiders can give good advice and find answers. Ruling Class drones will not.
Two prime examples: (1) the Deficit Commission - almost all Congressman with absolutely no sources of independent information or thinking, and (2) the world climate commission (aka IPCC) - all members are addicted to governments grants or are Foundation trolls or are actually governmental representatives. Of course they "get the right answer" and try to censor dissent.
The people need to eject and dissolve all these chains on their lives; tear down these castles of the Barons of the Ruling Class. A friend of mine sees all that has changed in the US since the 1960s and wonders: Has there has been a Coup? If one looks at the beginning and the end, it would look like a coup has occurred. My conclusion is that we have experienced slow power struggle - the new Ruling Class, created by merging Rich & Powerful with the Ruthless educated persons, has taken power in the US. They now try to rule over the common man & woman and take more and more control and wealth from them.
A quote from poem, Four Quartets: The Dry Salvages, by T. S. Eliot fits: "We've had the experience, but missed the meaning." These changes have happened slowly for decades; we've noticed the changes but the meaning has been obscure until the cumulative change was very large over our lifetime. We all remember the freedom we once had .. and how prosperous the US once was. Let's recognize NOW what's happened and start changing the US now to become the great place it once was.
Tomorrow & Friday: How to do it.
Word of the Day
None today - out of time.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Two "Minor" Examples of Ruling Class Activity
For a few years I've written how various groups in the Ruling Classes have been gutting American - and World - economies and cultures with their relentless greed for more. And how their ruthless Educated Class enablers have bollixed up government and other institutions by making everything complex, in order to hide their personal grabs for more personal power & money.
Here are two small examples from past literature. This process has been occurring since WW II; maybe since WW I. Both are taken from the Spring 2010 issue of Lapham's Quarterly, which is an excellent quarterly journal of fine writings from the past on various topics. The referenced issue is titled, "Arts & Letters".
First Example
1946 - George Orwell on Bad Writing, excerpt from page 95:
*** quote begins***
I am going to translate a passage of good English into modern English of the worst sort. Here is a well known verse from Ecclesiastes:
I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Here it is in modern English:
Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.
This is a parody, but not a very gross one.
***end of quote***
The educated cohorts of the Ruling Classes use this complex language "in a consciously dishonest way", to confuse and obfuscate the common man and to hide the true intentions of Ruling Class policies.
Second Example
1973 - by author Barbara Rose, page 164, about art.
***quotes begin***
The art world collapsed on the night of October 18, [1973] at Sotheby Parke Berner [in NYC] - and it ended not with a whimper, but with a bid.
...
People did not bid on paintings so much as they rooted for them. Cheers accompanied the record-setting prices
...
The real excitement obviously was generated not by art (you don't go to an auction to see art), but by the visible action of instant profit making - the only real main event [the author goes on to provide an example at art originally purchased for $750 being sold for $40,000]
...
The fascination with such excess profit taking is understandable in terms of the corporate mentality that now dominates the art world.
***end of quotes***
Thus meaning and beauty in art goes down the gutter, replaced by the hog trough of the Ruling Classes. The recent citation from the Financial Times of billionaires buying art in the manner of lottery tickets for more riches - simply to make money and gain fame as "smart buyers" - shows that Ruling Class philistines have ruled the art world for decades now.
Conclusions
The common man and woman need to throw off the Ruling Classes; to restore decency and fairness to the economy and government. The principles of Fraternal Libertarianism provide a sound and simple framework for doing this. Yes, it's an ideology. But an ideology is necessary to provide coordination for the common men and women to analyse and make decisions without suffering the traps, snares and pitfalls the ruthless Educated Classes set for keep their Ruling Class in power.
Word of the Day
"Chicanery" - noun [$10]
Chicanery means deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry: trickery.
Sentence: The ministers of the Ruling Classes use complexity and complex writings as chicanery to fool the common man. That's why government tax code and other laws and regulations are so impenetrable.
Here are two small examples from past literature. This process has been occurring since WW II; maybe since WW I. Both are taken from the Spring 2010 issue of Lapham's Quarterly, which is an excellent quarterly journal of fine writings from the past on various topics. The referenced issue is titled, "Arts & Letters".
First Example
1946 - George Orwell on Bad Writing, excerpt from page 95:
*** quote begins***
I am going to translate a passage of good English into modern English of the worst sort. Here is a well known verse from Ecclesiastes:
I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Here it is in modern English:
Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.
This is a parody, but not a very gross one.
***end of quote***
The educated cohorts of the Ruling Classes use this complex language "in a consciously dishonest way", to confuse and obfuscate the common man and to hide the true intentions of Ruling Class policies.
Second Example
1973 - by author Barbara Rose, page 164, about art.
***quotes begin***
The art world collapsed on the night of October 18, [1973] at Sotheby Parke Berner [in NYC] - and it ended not with a whimper, but with a bid.
...
People did not bid on paintings so much as they rooted for them. Cheers accompanied the record-setting prices
...
The real excitement obviously was generated not by art (you don't go to an auction to see art), but by the visible action of instant profit making - the only real main event [the author goes on to provide an example at art originally purchased for $750 being sold for $40,000]
...
The fascination with such excess profit taking is understandable in terms of the corporate mentality that now dominates the art world.
***end of quotes***
Thus meaning and beauty in art goes down the gutter, replaced by the hog trough of the Ruling Classes. The recent citation from the Financial Times of billionaires buying art in the manner of lottery tickets for more riches - simply to make money and gain fame as "smart buyers" - shows that Ruling Class philistines have ruled the art world for decades now.
Conclusions
The common man and woman need to throw off the Ruling Classes; to restore decency and fairness to the economy and government. The principles of Fraternal Libertarianism provide a sound and simple framework for doing this. Yes, it's an ideology. But an ideology is necessary to provide coordination for the common men and women to analyse and make decisions without suffering the traps, snares and pitfalls the ruthless Educated Classes set for keep their Ruling Class in power.
Word of the Day
"Chicanery" - noun [$10]
Chicanery means deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry: trickery.
Sentence: The ministers of the Ruling Classes use complexity and complex writings as chicanery to fool the common man. That's why government tax code and other laws and regulations are so impenetrable.
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, October 29, 2010
Back in the Saddle
I spent the last three days visiting and inspecting a few of my "places" in Georgia. I flew and had to suffer Hartsfield International Airport, a sprawling monstrosity of endless walking and intra-terminal trains. The flight from Boston took about 2.5 hours, but it took me 45 minutes to get out of the airport. That's paramount structural inefficiency. Sandwich prices in the airport are stunning - I paid over $10 for a very sub-par sandwich and coke worth only $5. Security with their million dollar scanners still rely on hand pat-downs. One bright side - the people were quite efficient and friendly.
Driving around Atlanta brought to my mind one vision: America's structural dependence on the gasoline engine is stunning. Atlanta is quintessential urban sprawl. Nothing is designed for walking as a backup. Even when one drives to be close to one's destination, there is almost no way to safely walk to stores nearby. Why? The decline and disregard for simple practices of local connectivity that an old town center - aka Main Street - had. City rules require parking - yup, parking for every store. And stores jealously guard their parking, threatening towing if customers of other stores park on their lot.
Atlanta has some buses and some kind of local train (MARTA). But it's completely inadequate; it has to be - the structure of the urban layout does not work for alternative transportation.
Obviously the Ruling Classes fail here again. The US has no rational energy policy and no long term transportation policy.
Why does much of Europe do much better on these matters? Unemployment in Germany drops to a multiyear low this week. Germany is heavily unionized. Its workers - and people - have excellent benefits. Obviously we could learn something from the Germans.
One difference: pay at the top in Germany is held down by taxes and social pressure and pressure from true outside representation on their Supervisory Boards.
Germany doesn't seem to give financial Vikings a free rein to raid and loot companies, either.
The US Ruling Classes have the wrong culture and values to lead America to a new era of greatness. The professional and technocrat classes ruling from DC - aka hogs - simply want to get snouts in the trough while there is food remaining. Their attitude fits a memorable line from that great movie, "Hud", made by the lead character, Hud, a man with no principles: "Let's stick our biscuit in that gravy while it's still hot."
That's the motto of the DC Ruling Classes.
This coming Tuesday, the voters need to pull that gravy bowl away and send the Ruling Class - all of them - back to the countryside for some honest labor.
Word of the Day
"Rambunctious" - adjective [$10] N. American colloq., 19th century origin unknown.
Rambunctious means 1. uncontrollably exuberant; 2. unruly.
Sentence: My new puppy, Lucky Star, is rambunctious to the max!
Driving around Atlanta brought to my mind one vision: America's structural dependence on the gasoline engine is stunning. Atlanta is quintessential urban sprawl. Nothing is designed for walking as a backup. Even when one drives to be close to one's destination, there is almost no way to safely walk to stores nearby. Why? The decline and disregard for simple practices of local connectivity that an old town center - aka Main Street - had. City rules require parking - yup, parking for every store. And stores jealously guard their parking, threatening towing if customers of other stores park on their lot.
Atlanta has some buses and some kind of local train (MARTA). But it's completely inadequate; it has to be - the structure of the urban layout does not work for alternative transportation.
Obviously the Ruling Classes fail here again. The US has no rational energy policy and no long term transportation policy.
Why does much of Europe do much better on these matters? Unemployment in Germany drops to a multiyear low this week. Germany is heavily unionized. Its workers - and people - have excellent benefits. Obviously we could learn something from the Germans.
One difference: pay at the top in Germany is held down by taxes and social pressure and pressure from true outside representation on their Supervisory Boards.
Germany doesn't seem to give financial Vikings a free rein to raid and loot companies, either.
The US Ruling Classes have the wrong culture and values to lead America to a new era of greatness. The professional and technocrat classes ruling from DC - aka hogs - simply want to get snouts in the trough while there is food remaining. Their attitude fits a memorable line from that great movie, "Hud", made by the lead character, Hud, a man with no principles: "Let's stick our biscuit in that gravy while it's still hot."
That's the motto of the DC Ruling Classes.
This coming Tuesday, the voters need to pull that gravy bowl away and send the Ruling Class - all of them - back to the countryside for some honest labor.
Word of the Day
"Rambunctious" - adjective [$10] N. American colloq., 19th century origin unknown.
Rambunctious means 1. uncontrollably exuberant; 2. unruly.
Sentence: My new puppy, Lucky Star, is rambunctious to the max!
Friday, October 22, 2010
TGIF ... and a some thoughts
Attention Billionaires!
Shut up!
Sure, you're rich. And some of you made that money by building up a company. Or by running a hedge fund. Or by investing.
But that does NOT make you either an expert or even knowledgeable about anything beyond your own personal experience and work. You open your mouths with ga-ga eyes to the press, loving their adoration and attention, and bloviate about all sorts of subjects. Barry calls you and asks for advice, as he did Steve Jobs yesterday. He acts like he listens. The press glow - after all, you give them cachet.
But in reality you know zippo, zero, nothing about almost everything you blather about. A first line manager knows more. A ground level worker knows more. A sole proprietor knows more. You've been cossetted for years by a cadre of aides doing your bidding. Do you even write your own checks? Fill out your tax return? Take you car to be serviced? Know a friend having a run of bad luck? Personally know anyone who has suffered in this recession (caused by the Street and hedge funds)?
Nope.
You know nothing. And you make that obvious with your advice that you proffer too readily.
Socrates said, paraphrasing, that if you don't know what you don't know, you are ignorant.
Someone else said, it's better to be quiet than open your mouth and let people know you're a fool.
Billionaires: Shut Up!
We don't care about you're stupid, foolish ideas or beliefs. Go do something and help the poor directly, or hire some people for useful work, or send some kids to college without huge loan debts. Act, don't talk.
Word of the Day
"Disyllable" - noun [$10] also 'dissyllable', Prosody
Disyllable means a word or metrical foot of two syllables.
Sentence: "Shut Up" is a written and spoken disyllable, being written as two one-syllable words, spoken for emphasis with word distinction as "Shut ... up!", or shot out with force as the two syllable utterance - "shuddup"! In all three usages, it applies to all billionaires all the time.
Shut up!
Sure, you're rich. And some of you made that money by building up a company. Or by running a hedge fund. Or by investing.
But that does NOT make you either an expert or even knowledgeable about anything beyond your own personal experience and work. You open your mouths with ga-ga eyes to the press, loving their adoration and attention, and bloviate about all sorts of subjects. Barry calls you and asks for advice, as he did Steve Jobs yesterday. He acts like he listens. The press glow - after all, you give them cachet.
But in reality you know zippo, zero, nothing about almost everything you blather about. A first line manager knows more. A ground level worker knows more. A sole proprietor knows more. You've been cossetted for years by a cadre of aides doing your bidding. Do you even write your own checks? Fill out your tax return? Take you car to be serviced? Know a friend having a run of bad luck? Personally know anyone who has suffered in this recession (caused by the Street and hedge funds)?
Nope.
You know nothing. And you make that obvious with your advice that you proffer too readily.
Socrates said, paraphrasing, that if you don't know what you don't know, you are ignorant.
Someone else said, it's better to be quiet than open your mouth and let people know you're a fool.
Billionaires: Shut Up!
We don't care about you're stupid, foolish ideas or beliefs. Go do something and help the poor directly, or hire some people for useful work, or send some kids to college without huge loan debts. Act, don't talk.
Word of the Day
"Disyllable" - noun [$10] also 'dissyllable', Prosody
Disyllable means a word or metrical foot of two syllables.
Sentence: "Shut Up" is a written and spoken disyllable, being written as two one-syllable words, spoken for emphasis with word distinction as "Shut ... up!", or shot out with force as the two syllable utterance - "shuddup"! In all three usages, it applies to all billionaires all the time.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Lucky Star Pins the Bear
Clearly Lucky Star wants to be in the markets as a Bull. In this photo she is pinning the Bear with a vicious leg hold.
My thinking is the US markets are trading the November elections. The defeat of many incumbents would end the anti-business, anti-freedom power of the P-O-R clique; Perhaps real spending cuts could begin, and a power shift to the common man and woman could begin.
The Ruling Classes have not suffered real spending cuts for many, many decades. The lawyers, lobbyists and rich and powerful have grabbed more and more income and wealth using the monopoly powers of big government, big corporations and big unions to seize it. Joe & Jane in the middle have gotten pay cuts, layoffs, pension cuts, benefit cuts, and regulations on their lives to the extent of mandating certain types of toilets.
If the "Tea Parties" do anything, perhaps they can START a power shift. With a good start, perhaps some intellectual leadership can deflect their forces towards Fraternal Libertarianism, where the Ruling Classes are regulated heavily and the poor are helped, while Joe & Jane in the middle have more freedom.
The time when a DC Ruling Class congressman can take taxpayer money, send a bit back to his district as a payoff to supporters and claim to be "helping" it must end. All that money should never leave the district.
Government bureaucrats are acting more like scalphunters: they grab business records and look for red-tape 'violations' of phony, inane rules everywhere, while letting the Street and hedge funds loot the public. The SEC even aids and abets them, shaping markets to let them make more and more vig every day.
Voters: Gut the Ruling Classes! Eviscerate them! Kick them all out!
Actions
I sold the last of my TIPs yesterday. The real returns on those are now less than 1.5% for 20-30 years. Why lock in a losing investment? Krypto will be a small seller of stocks higher, but be a big buyer lower. I figure the US big caps are cheap; in a pullback to 1100 S&P I will likely raise their allocation.
Word of the Day
"Regnant" - adjective [$10]
Regnant means 1. reigning (Queen regnant); 2. (of things, qualities, etc.) predominant, prevalent.
Sentence: Voters should sweep out the entire regnant class in Dc and most state capitals.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
The Corrupt SEC
The SEC's report on the flash crash of May publicly reveals its deep level of corruption and that it now longer serves the PUBLIC in its regulation of the stock exchanges. The report clearly shows that the fragmented electronic markets that the SEC has imposed simply do not work under stress. The SEC turned the stocks markets over to nameless, faceless computers, instead of people with clear responsibility and capital at risk.
The report documents that a huge trade made by a huge mutual fund [Waddell & Reed], that in fact operated like a hedge fund, cracked open the seams of the markets like the iceberg hitting the Titanic. And the markets sank, despite all those promises of better liquidity and public service the SEC promised when it forced the NYSE specialist system out of its former critical role.
In a market dominated by HUMANS, that huge order by Waddell & Reed would have been exposed to the markets and that fund would have gotten a low price and borne the cost of its lust for speed itself. Instead, the the SEC's market, they were able to secretly flood the markets with thousands of small electronic orders simultaneously, like a virus infects a being. And that wave of orders killed the market as other computer traders copied the move.
The SEC could easily stop this practice. Bring back the specialist system. Impose it on all stocks. Impose it on ETFs. Require large orders on stock futures to go to people in the pit. Then those hogs will have to pay for their greed as the counterparties price the speed & size into lower bids. Ban ALL electronic trading whenever the market is down 2% or for a stock when it is down 5%. Ban coordinated electronic waves of orders. Coordinated electronic orders are obviously market manipulation - get rid of them. Expose the large order to the market at once to attract offers, using the NYSE specialist to advertise the stock available and attract bids. That's how large orders were formerly done and that worked OK for decades.
Will the SEC do any of this? Nope. They are corrupt and in the pocket of the Street & hedge funds & their law firms. The SEC employees want high paying jobs when they leave the agency, and a sure way to get those is to do the bidding of those people while working for the SEC.
Sighhh. The Ruling Classes in DC are so corrupt. Vote them all out this November.
Word of the Day
"Entelechy" - noun [$10] Philosophical
Entelechy means 1. realization of potential; 2. the supposed essential nature or guiding principal of a living thing.
Sentence: The SEC and its employees has lost all connection with the entelechy of the agency, which is, as it is for ALL government agencies, to serve the People and the Common Man and Woman.
The report documents that a huge trade made by a huge mutual fund [Waddell & Reed], that in fact operated like a hedge fund, cracked open the seams of the markets like the iceberg hitting the Titanic. And the markets sank, despite all those promises of better liquidity and public service the SEC promised when it forced the NYSE specialist system out of its former critical role.
In a market dominated by HUMANS, that huge order by Waddell & Reed would have been exposed to the markets and that fund would have gotten a low price and borne the cost of its lust for speed itself. Instead, the the SEC's market, they were able to secretly flood the markets with thousands of small electronic orders simultaneously, like a virus infects a being. And that wave of orders killed the market as other computer traders copied the move.
The SEC could easily stop this practice. Bring back the specialist system. Impose it on all stocks. Impose it on ETFs. Require large orders on stock futures to go to people in the pit. Then those hogs will have to pay for their greed as the counterparties price the speed & size into lower bids. Ban ALL electronic trading whenever the market is down 2% or for a stock when it is down 5%. Ban coordinated electronic waves of orders. Coordinated electronic orders are obviously market manipulation - get rid of them. Expose the large order to the market at once to attract offers, using the NYSE specialist to advertise the stock available and attract bids. That's how large orders were formerly done and that worked OK for decades.
Will the SEC do any of this? Nope. They are corrupt and in the pocket of the Street & hedge funds & their law firms. The SEC employees want high paying jobs when they leave the agency, and a sure way to get those is to do the bidding of those people while working for the SEC.
Sighhh. The Ruling Classes in DC are so corrupt. Vote them all out this November.
Word of the Day
"Entelechy" - noun [$10] Philosophical
Entelechy means 1. realization of potential; 2. the supposed essential nature or guiding principal of a living thing.
Sentence: The SEC and its employees has lost all connection with the entelechy of the agency, which is, as it is for ALL government agencies, to serve the People and the Common Man and Woman.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Hogs at the Trough
I was not surprised by the facts in a Wall Street Journal article that I tore out before going on to my Epicurean camping trip.
"Washington Firms Soak Up Stimulus" - WSJ Sept. 17, 2010.
The Ruling Class Hogs made sure they wrote a "stimulus" bill to feed themselves and their friends and neighbors: "More than $3.7 billion of stimulus contracts, grants and loans have gone to recipients in the District of Columbia and two adjacent congressional districts—Maryland's 8th District and Virginia's 8th District. That amounts to nearly $2,000 for every resident—nearly three times the national average, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of reports filed by recipients."
This shows the depths of greed and depravity of the Ruling Classes in DC. The people need help to recover from a bad recession caused by the Ruling Classes on Wall Street, and their cousins in DC write a stimulus bill to shower money on themselves and the coterie of hogs in DC. More: "More than $2.2 billion of the stimulus money awarded to the Washington area has gone to private firms, many of which are helping federal agencies with the administrative work generated by the sprawling effort: deciding how to award funds, drawing up contracts and monitoring and auditing spending. Some help federal agencies with their internal monitoring systems and public-relations efforts."
The P-O-R crowd gave stimulus money to the Federal government and firms providing it MORE services. Gosh, that's a hard pressed sector, isn't it. Obama touts "shovel-ready" projects and gives them peanuts, while he fills the trough for His, Rip-Off Harry Reid's and Nancy Pelosi's pals and supporters in the Federal government.
Of all metropolitan areas, Washington's is lowest; it's employment actually rose over the last 12 months. Yet the P-O-R Stimulus bill spent more money there than in truly depressed areas. Incredible greed !!!
The whole passel of hogs in DC needs to be booted out: the existing rulers in Congress, the administration and the entire lawyer-lobbyist clique. They are almost ALL dishonest. At a time of need for national leadership - the Panic and 2008 and its resulting Great Recession - they simply wanted more power and money for themselves. They are a ruling aristocracy gone lustful for MORE and MORE.
Actions
I sold a lot of money invested in TIPs [via the Vanguard index fund] as those prices reached new highs. Those levels are very, very risky as TIPs now yield very low rates and have very heavy risk of loss if rates go up. This is "sell high, buy low", "buy low, sell high". Krypto Fund is building it's cash pile and will reinvest it as asset valuation re-adjust and provide something cheap to buy. actions.
Word of the Day
"Emend" - verb [$20]
Emend means to remove errors or corruption.
Sentence: Voters must emend that crucial pillar of support of the Ruling Class this November by electing honest leaders who will vote to help the common people.
"Washington Firms Soak Up Stimulus" - WSJ Sept. 17, 2010.
The Ruling Class Hogs made sure they wrote a "stimulus" bill to feed themselves and their friends and neighbors: "More than $3.7 billion of stimulus contracts, grants and loans have gone to recipients in the District of Columbia and two adjacent congressional districts—Maryland's 8th District and Virginia's 8th District. That amounts to nearly $2,000 for every resident—nearly three times the national average, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of reports filed by recipients."
This shows the depths of greed and depravity of the Ruling Classes in DC. The people need help to recover from a bad recession caused by the Ruling Classes on Wall Street, and their cousins in DC write a stimulus bill to shower money on themselves and the coterie of hogs in DC. More: "More than $2.2 billion of the stimulus money awarded to the Washington area has gone to private firms, many of which are helping federal agencies with the administrative work generated by the sprawling effort: deciding how to award funds, drawing up contracts and monitoring and auditing spending. Some help federal agencies with their internal monitoring systems and public-relations efforts."
The P-O-R crowd gave stimulus money to the Federal government and firms providing it MORE services. Gosh, that's a hard pressed sector, isn't it. Obama touts "shovel-ready" projects and gives them peanuts, while he fills the trough for His, Rip-Off Harry Reid's and Nancy Pelosi's pals and supporters in the Federal government.
Of all metropolitan areas, Washington's is lowest; it's employment actually rose over the last 12 months. Yet the P-O-R Stimulus bill spent more money there than in truly depressed areas. Incredible greed !!!
The whole passel of hogs in DC needs to be booted out: the existing rulers in Congress, the administration and the entire lawyer-lobbyist clique. They are almost ALL dishonest. At a time of need for national leadership - the Panic and 2008 and its resulting Great Recession - they simply wanted more power and money for themselves. They are a ruling aristocracy gone lustful for MORE and MORE.
Actions
I sold a lot of money invested in TIPs [via the Vanguard index fund] as those prices reached new highs. Those levels are very, very risky as TIPs now yield very low rates and have very heavy risk of loss if rates go up. This is "sell high, buy low", "buy low, sell high". Krypto Fund is building it's cash pile and will reinvest it as asset valuation re-adjust and provide something cheap to buy. actions.
Word of the Day
"Emend" - verb [$20]
Emend means to remove errors or corruption.
Sentence: Voters must emend that crucial pillar of support of the Ruling Class this November by electing honest leaders who will vote to help the common people.
Monday, August 30, 2010
We Need Bigger Claws
Clawbacks, that is.
Everyone is unduly focusing on the financial sectors as 'the place' where executive clawbacks are needed. A 'clawback' is a return of prior years' pay when later losses occur which are connected to the decisions and situations the person created and was paid for. For example, Chuckie Prince of Citibank got paid hundreds of millions of dollars, yet the assets on the books of Citibank were massively overvalued leading to billions of losses. Ditto Stan O'Neal at Merrill Lynch. Ditto hundreds of traders, bankers and investment bankers.
But for a couple decades we've seen in all industries endless examples of the recurring non-recurring losses, where the executive suite books a few years of great profits, collects big bonuses and stock option gains, then takes a big 'nonrecurring loss'. Of course in the long run (for which the executive suite SHOULD be paid), all gains and loses are both recurring and operating gains and losses. These executive hogs are not even fired for those losses. And the prior CEO, etc., keeps his huge retirement package while the common man employee gets laid off in a restructuring.
This is no long tolerable ! It never should have been tolerated, but was created due to the incestuous, clubby nature of the compensation committees and compensation consultants. CEO pay and that of the entire executive suite is way out of line and needs a massive dose of clawbacks reaching into retirement pay, too.
You can also see one other logical result: stock options are not - never - a proper means of executive pay. They reward short term performance, no matter what the vesting period.
CEO and executive suite pay should be based on earnings (in $, not per share) smoothed by ALL nonrecurring losses (and gains) over at least three years - five is better. And any retirement package should be restricted stock that cannot be sold for at least five years and is subject to clawbacks, too. At least then the CEO will bear the cost for his mistakes as well as the employees. All retirement packages should include only restricted stock issues based on earnings, subject to the clawback.
Limit all cash payments to $1 million per year. That's enough. CEOs are not Dukes or Princes. No special deals for ANYTHING. They have plenty of money - let them pay like the common man for vacation air fares. The US needs a massive dose of populism to improve the moral of the common man. Reform this ruling class in the executive suite, too, along with their DC cousins.
All this follows from the concepts of fraternal libertarianism: regulations and restrictions and controls on the rich and powerful ruling classes, freedom and a strong safety net for the poor and working poor. This is the political barbell strategy that the US needs to adopt.
Fraternal libertarianism is the correct political strategy for the Tea Parties. This strategy and philosophy can let the Tea Parties attract a broad base of support and win general elections.
Actions
Krypto await lower prices to buy stocks, and will sell more TIPs on a further rally.
Word of the Day
"Connivance" - noun [$10] and "Connive" - verb, intransitive [$10]
Connive means 1. scheme or plot; 2. to cooperate secretly in an illegal act or wrongful action, collude; 3. to feign ignorance of or fail to take measures against a wrong.
Connivance means 1. the act of conniving; 2. (Law) knowledge of and tacit consent to the commission of an illegal act by another.
Sentence: For decades the connivance of the hogs in the ruling classes, compensation committees and consultants have looted corporations via gluttonous CEO and executive pay packages. Let's get their snouts out of the trough ! Bring out clawbacks for ALL in the ruling class !
Everyone is unduly focusing on the financial sectors as 'the place' where executive clawbacks are needed. A 'clawback' is a return of prior years' pay when later losses occur which are connected to the decisions and situations the person created and was paid for. For example, Chuckie Prince of Citibank got paid hundreds of millions of dollars, yet the assets on the books of Citibank were massively overvalued leading to billions of losses. Ditto Stan O'Neal at Merrill Lynch. Ditto hundreds of traders, bankers and investment bankers.
But for a couple decades we've seen in all industries endless examples of the recurring non-recurring losses, where the executive suite books a few years of great profits, collects big bonuses and stock option gains, then takes a big 'nonrecurring loss'. Of course in the long run (for which the executive suite SHOULD be paid), all gains and loses are both recurring and operating gains and losses. These executive hogs are not even fired for those losses. And the prior CEO, etc., keeps his huge retirement package while the common man employee gets laid off in a restructuring.
This is no long tolerable ! It never should have been tolerated, but was created due to the incestuous, clubby nature of the compensation committees and compensation consultants. CEO pay and that of the entire executive suite is way out of line and needs a massive dose of clawbacks reaching into retirement pay, too.
You can also see one other logical result: stock options are not - never - a proper means of executive pay. They reward short term performance, no matter what the vesting period.
CEO and executive suite pay should be based on earnings (in $, not per share) smoothed by ALL nonrecurring losses (and gains) over at least three years - five is better. And any retirement package should be restricted stock that cannot be sold for at least five years and is subject to clawbacks, too. At least then the CEO will bear the cost for his mistakes as well as the employees. All retirement packages should include only restricted stock issues based on earnings, subject to the clawback.
Limit all cash payments to $1 million per year. That's enough. CEOs are not Dukes or Princes. No special deals for ANYTHING. They have plenty of money - let them pay like the common man for vacation air fares. The US needs a massive dose of populism to improve the moral of the common man. Reform this ruling class in the executive suite, too, along with their DC cousins.
All this follows from the concepts of fraternal libertarianism: regulations and restrictions and controls on the rich and powerful ruling classes, freedom and a strong safety net for the poor and working poor. This is the political barbell strategy that the US needs to adopt.
Fraternal libertarianism is the correct political strategy for the Tea Parties. This strategy and philosophy can let the Tea Parties attract a broad base of support and win general elections.
Actions
Krypto await lower prices to buy stocks, and will sell more TIPs on a further rally.
Word of the Day
"Connivance" - noun [$10] and "Connive" - verb, intransitive [$10]
Connive means 1. scheme or plot; 2. to cooperate secretly in an illegal act or wrongful action, collude; 3. to feign ignorance of or fail to take measures against a wrong.
Connivance means 1. the act of conniving; 2. (Law) knowledge of and tacit consent to the commission of an illegal act by another.
Sentence: For decades the connivance of the hogs in the ruling classes, compensation committees and consultants have looted corporations via gluttonous CEO and executive pay packages. Let's get their snouts out of the trough ! Bring out clawbacks for ALL in the ruling class !
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The Ruling Class
The photo shows me in action with my M60 at the Green Mountain Boys Shooting Club. I'm mowing down the Ruling Class metaphorically, as the voters need to do this November in the elections.Who are they in America ?
The Ruling Class in America is the hive of rich and /or powerful people who dominate Washington DC, the major state governments, major corporations, Wall Street banks and investment banks, the major law firms, their media propaganda machine and entrenched foundations. They deal in power. Money is their tool for gaining more power.
People in the ruling class mostly don't know anyone who could be called a common man or women. Their children intermarry. They don't know anyone personally who lives in hardship. They mostly don't know what is takes to start a business. They don't know the tax system in American and how oppressive it is. They've never done a tax return themselves. They go to black tie dinners and socialize with each other and talk with each other about what they want to do to us - the common man & woman.
They use their propaganda machine and innumerable rhetorical fallacies to dominate public discussions and mislead people and misdirect public debate. One almost never hears a direct truthful answer to a question from one of them. They excel in "operation change the subject" to obfuscate their true intent, viz., gain more power. The major media is their propaganda machine - it's a willing partner in maintaining dominance of the ruling class as the media IS part is that class and they want it to retain power.
Why was the $700 billion "stimulus" squandered ? Because the ruling class used the true need for real stimulus to divert all most all the money to their friends and favorites. Why was the health care bill over 2,000 pages ? Because the ruling class thrives in complexity and endless, obscure details to hide their power grabs and disposition of favors. Ditto for why the financial reform bill was over 2,000 pages. Yet that bill did not address the diversion of trillions of dollars of the common man in banks to fund Wall Street trading schemes. Why ? Because the ruling class wanted to protect their co-conspirators in the ruling class.
True reform will come only when outsiders gain power by elections. If honest people are elected in sufficient numbers, they can break the grip on power of the ruling class. The people need to speak this November and vote for honest people. The people must do this now, since the ruling class is planning huge new taxes that will fund a quantum leap in their power next year.
Welcome New Reader
I welcome Rush Limbaugh as a reader. Driving to an appointment yesterday I listened to him a bit for the first time in years (Mrs. B had tuned into his station to listen to another local talk show). And I heard him talk about the "Ruling Class". I had once listened to him a lot in the 1990s, and he never used that term. Where did he get it ? In this blog, of course. Welcome Rush (or your producers) !
Actions
Doing nothing. Krypto is waiting to sell at higher prices, perhaps closer to 1200 S&P. Or buy TIPs on a significant pullback.
Word of the Day
"Eschew" - verb [$10]
Eschew means to avoid habitualy especially on moral and practical grouns: shun.
Sentence: Voters must eschew any candidate tainted by any connection with the Ruling Class or any dishonesty.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Not good
"We had the experience, but missed the meaning" - T. S. Eliot in "The Dry Salvages".
That applies to the US ruling classes. The Panic of 2008 should have led to real change in how people invest and how the financial system is structured. But almost nothing has changed.
Too much money is in trading hedge funds ... in hedge funds, period. All that money is unproductive for economic growth. Of all those funds of the rich man, only venture capital helps the world get better. The rest are simply parasitical creatures seeking to suck a bit of the vig from markets.
Short selling has not been forced to be "real" - namely, selling only what one has borrowed and applying to all, including market makers.
Computer trading is uncontrolled. Trading pauses and "circuit breakers" are set so wide that they become irrelevant.
The public had become afraid of investing in stocks. That's a colossal change from the 1980s and 1990s.
All the Street seems to want to do is trade. Where is their primary function as financial intermediaries being done ? The same for the big banks. The big banks suck deposits from America and use the money to ... trade securities. They don't try to make loans anymore. Why bother ? They can make more money trading.
Derivatives still interconnect the major financial intermediaries, thus making them wired for another blow-up. Credit default swaps are still permitted as weapons for financial vikings to raid & pillage.
Every week we see another 400,000+ people laid off from work. Unemployment is close to 10%. Underemployment probably is over 15%.
And what does the ruling class do ? Nothing. They fight with each other seeking more power.
Thus, that quote from T. S. Eliot might be the epigram for the old order.
Let's hope the people start to act. The people must stop waiting for government to act, and take action themselves - the people need to restore their own communities, their own economic lives and their own human capital. The tools ? The mind and what exists now. The people need to focus their minds on what they can do now to help themselves with what they have.
This writer is taking actions to help motivate and aid the people to strive to help themselves.
As for the ruling classes ... just push them aside.
Actions
Krypto wants to sell some real estate fund and gold. The proceeds are to go into cash and/or bonds. I'll post actions in the comments, IF I do it.
Word of the Day
"Supervention" - noun [$10]; from "Supervene" - verb, intransitive [$10]
Supervene means to occur as an interruption in or a change from some states.
Supervention means an action or occurrence of supervening.
Sentence: (A) [from The Cambridge Companion to T. S. Eliot, pg 46.] "The individual parts of any collection [of poems, etc.] are affected by the supervention of a wholly novel element ..." (B) Will history see the actions of the people in 2010 as a critical supervention in history and in the path of the US economy?
That applies to the US ruling classes. The Panic of 2008 should have led to real change in how people invest and how the financial system is structured. But almost nothing has changed.
Too much money is in trading hedge funds ... in hedge funds, period. All that money is unproductive for economic growth. Of all those funds of the rich man, only venture capital helps the world get better. The rest are simply parasitical creatures seeking to suck a bit of the vig from markets.
Short selling has not been forced to be "real" - namely, selling only what one has borrowed and applying to all, including market makers.
Computer trading is uncontrolled. Trading pauses and "circuit breakers" are set so wide that they become irrelevant.
The public had become afraid of investing in stocks. That's a colossal change from the 1980s and 1990s.
All the Street seems to want to do is trade. Where is their primary function as financial intermediaries being done ? The same for the big banks. The big banks suck deposits from America and use the money to ... trade securities. They don't try to make loans anymore. Why bother ? They can make more money trading.
Derivatives still interconnect the major financial intermediaries, thus making them wired for another blow-up. Credit default swaps are still permitted as weapons for financial vikings to raid & pillage.
Every week we see another 400,000+ people laid off from work. Unemployment is close to 10%. Underemployment probably is over 15%.
And what does the ruling class do ? Nothing. They fight with each other seeking more power.
Thus, that quote from T. S. Eliot might be the epigram for the old order.
Let's hope the people start to act. The people must stop waiting for government to act, and take action themselves - the people need to restore their own communities, their own economic lives and their own human capital. The tools ? The mind and what exists now. The people need to focus their minds on what they can do now to help themselves with what they have.
This writer is taking actions to help motivate and aid the people to strive to help themselves.
As for the ruling classes ... just push them aside.
Actions
Krypto wants to sell some real estate fund and gold. The proceeds are to go into cash and/or bonds. I'll post actions in the comments, IF I do it.
Word of the Day
"Supervention" - noun [$10]; from "Supervene" - verb, intransitive [$10]
Supervene means to occur as an interruption in or a change from some states.
Supervention means an action or occurrence of supervening.
Sentence: (A) [from The Cambridge Companion to T. S. Eliot, pg 46.] "The individual parts of any collection [of poems, etc.] are affected by the supervention of a wholly novel element ..." (B) Will history see the actions of the people in 2010 as a critical supervention in history and in the path of the US economy?
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Disappointing ...
.... to hear that the SEC vote to charge Goldman, Sachs was 3 to 2. Here's the actual complaint ->
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2010/comp21489.pdf
In that complaint, one will read that Paulson & Co. paid Goldman, Sachs $15 million to set up the transaction that led to over $1 billion in losses (see paragraph #5). Goldman, Sachs has not yet denied that charge. If true, in my thinking that is a smoking gun for the guilt of Goldman, Sachs ... and Paulson & Co. in an insidious conspiracy to defraud investors. One simply cannot take undisclosed money from one party while purporting to work for another. Since Paulson & Co. paid the "fee" - how can they not be responsible, too ?
Why would an SEC commissioner vote not to proceed ? Both were Republicans. I suppose IF I was a conspiratorialist, I'd think they were paid off or in the pocket of the rich & powerful Wall Street crowd. But as I like to joke (with truth), I've seen black helicopters, so if I can't see a conspiracy, it's likely not there. In this case, I think not.
Perhaps they wanted the SEC to try to settle first. That is the prior SEC modus operandi aka m. o. aka method of operation. Maybe. But after the Panic of 2008 and all that pain caused by Wall Street and the beefers, why keep that old m. o. ? That did NOT serve the public in the past, but was a means for the clique of ruling class lawyers to keep nefarious deeds as quiet as possible. Hence IF that was their reason, it was wrong.
Some Republicans (and even some liberals) have a knee-jerk anti-government reflex action. That's not so bad to have. I have it, too, as a good Fraternal Libertarian. Government fails in so many things it purports to do. BUT any Republican or anyone else with a bit of historical knowledge should know that great Republican President, Theodore Roosevelt, led the fight to bust the big trusts who were strangling the nation to get more wealth for themselves. And one should note that the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, favored well-structured internal improvements. The simple fact noted above should have neutralized any knee-jerk reflex against a strong SEC move. Hence IF their knee-jerk anti-government philosophy was the cause for voting no, that was wrong, too.
Therefore I'm disappointed in the Republicans, just like I was on the first TARP vote, which they defeated for incorrect knee-jerk anti-government reasons. That was a massive error that helped let the Panic of 2008 grow to epic size. The markets have only just recovered to pre-first-TARP vote levels. The public really needs an open hearing on all the crimes of Wall Street. This should be a start.
Republicans, think about Theodore Roosevelt's leadership. Stop being stupid and rigid. Adopt some of Theodore Roosevelt's populism. That is the key to winning elections now. You have to be more "Pro common man" .. well, perhaps more like a Fraternal Libertarian :)
Word of the Day
"Marry" - interjection [$10] - this is use #2 in dictionaries; archaic (often used in Shakespeare plays as an interjection.
Marry (2) means expressing surprise, asseveration, indignation, etc. [Middle English from (the Virgin) Mary]
Sentence: Marry, why did those Republicans votes against charging Goldman, Sachs ?
Analogy for understanding its usage: mild interjections that are very common today are "Christ!" and "jeez" (from Jesus), or even "Jesus H. Christ" !! Even "gosh" and "golly" arose from "God!". In Shakespearean times, an interjection that arose from Mary was ... marry !
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2010/comp21489.pdf
In that complaint, one will read that Paulson & Co. paid Goldman, Sachs $15 million to set up the transaction that led to over $1 billion in losses (see paragraph #5). Goldman, Sachs has not yet denied that charge. If true, in my thinking that is a smoking gun for the guilt of Goldman, Sachs ... and Paulson & Co. in an insidious conspiracy to defraud investors. One simply cannot take undisclosed money from one party while purporting to work for another. Since Paulson & Co. paid the "fee" - how can they not be responsible, too ?
Why would an SEC commissioner vote not to proceed ? Both were Republicans. I suppose IF I was a conspiratorialist, I'd think they were paid off or in the pocket of the rich & powerful Wall Street crowd. But as I like to joke (with truth), I've seen black helicopters, so if I can't see a conspiracy, it's likely not there. In this case, I think not.
Perhaps they wanted the SEC to try to settle first. That is the prior SEC modus operandi aka m. o. aka method of operation. Maybe. But after the Panic of 2008 and all that pain caused by Wall Street and the beefers, why keep that old m. o. ? That did NOT serve the public in the past, but was a means for the clique of ruling class lawyers to keep nefarious deeds as quiet as possible. Hence IF that was their reason, it was wrong.
Some Republicans (and even some liberals) have a knee-jerk anti-government reflex action. That's not so bad to have. I have it, too, as a good Fraternal Libertarian. Government fails in so many things it purports to do. BUT any Republican or anyone else with a bit of historical knowledge should know that great Republican President, Theodore Roosevelt, led the fight to bust the big trusts who were strangling the nation to get more wealth for themselves. And one should note that the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, favored well-structured internal improvements. The simple fact noted above should have neutralized any knee-jerk reflex against a strong SEC move. Hence IF their knee-jerk anti-government philosophy was the cause for voting no, that was wrong, too.
Therefore I'm disappointed in the Republicans, just like I was on the first TARP vote, which they defeated for incorrect knee-jerk anti-government reasons. That was a massive error that helped let the Panic of 2008 grow to epic size. The markets have only just recovered to pre-first-TARP vote levels. The public really needs an open hearing on all the crimes of Wall Street. This should be a start.
Republicans, think about Theodore Roosevelt's leadership. Stop being stupid and rigid. Adopt some of Theodore Roosevelt's populism. That is the key to winning elections now. You have to be more "Pro common man" .. well, perhaps more like a Fraternal Libertarian :)
Word of the Day
"Marry" - interjection [$10] - this is use #2 in dictionaries; archaic (often used in Shakespeare plays as an interjection.
Marry (2) means expressing surprise, asseveration, indignation, etc. [Middle English from (the Virgin) Mary]
Sentence: Marry, why did those Republicans votes against charging Goldman, Sachs ?
Analogy for understanding its usage: mild interjections that are very common today are "Christ!" and "jeez" (from Jesus), or even "Jesus H. Christ" !! Even "gosh" and "golly" arose from "God!". In Shakespearean times, an interjection that arose from Mary was ... marry !
Thursday, February 4, 2010
A Command State ?
The Ruling Classes in DC seem to have decided to grab powers that were never contemplated in the US Constitution. I mean the power to order the people - you, each person - to do whatever the ruling classes desire, or suffer punitive fines. This is a positive order to command an action / behavior, not a subsidy or prohibition.
The instantiation* of this seizure of power is the mandate in ObamaCare that each person MUST buy health insurance or suffer a fine.
The Supreme Court has ruled that Congress has no power to order States to do positive actions; Congress gets its way by subsidies or threat to withhold other funding. Such rulings were based on the Tenth Amendment, which states that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Notice that "the people" have an equal status in this Amendment.
Where else does the US Constitution permit the Federal Government to command the people ? I can find only in its right to raise armies, viz. draft people into the military. There is plenty of power to regulate and restrict activity, but that's NOT the power to give you orders to do something which you may not wish to do. There is power to tax in several places, but imposing fines for not doing something is not a tax.
One can find strong evidence that contrary view holds, viz. that the Federal Government has no powers to command the people except through a military draft.
The 13th Amendment in part states, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Is not a command to do something a form of involuntary servitude ? What else could it be but that power of a Baron to command his slaves or serfs to do work. There is no exception here for a general or implied power of the United States to command the people.
The Third Amendment states, "No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law." This was put into the Constitution because of centuries of abuses by English kings in forcing the people to quarter soldiers [here, "quarter" means to house and feed]. The kings did that either to avoid asking parliament for funds, as King Charles I did in the English Civil war, or as the English Parliament did in 1765 to force the colonies to pay for the support of British troop, and not the English people. That abuse was cited in the Declaration of Independence and led to the Third Amendment.
I see no logical conclusion but that the individual mandate in ObamaCare is unconstitutional and an abuse of power.
That doesn't mean that I don't support a universal health care benefit in the US. My blog post of October 21, 2009 specified the right way to provide this. You can find it in the Blog Archive on the right, but here's a direct link:
http://viewfromthebunker.blogspot.com/2009/10/solution-to-health-care-dilemma.html
My view on how to raise the money has changed, however. See my blog post of November 24, 2009; here's the link:
http://viewfromthebunker.blogspot.com/2009/11/to-solve-twin-deficits.html
If Congress would do the right thing, it could solve the three largest problems facing America: lack of jobs, budget deficits, and access to health care for the people. If Congress did this, I'm sure they would go down in history as the greatest Congress since the 1st Congress. But their current path is to go along the path of King Charles I and King George III in seizing more power and oppressing the people.
Markets
Waiting. I was a bit disappointed in the ISM Services #. Jobs in the US will mostly come from services, so that sector need to get a lot stronger.
PS: Sold the spec longs out. The crappy jobs number made the decision for me. If I hadn't, the Green-Red rule would have told me to sell anyway. Small net loss. Standing aside for now.
Word of the Day
"Instantiation" - noun [$10] noun, from "instantiate" = verb [$10]
Instantiate means to represent by an instance; (alternate) to represent (an abstract concept) by a concrete or tangible example.
Sentence: See * above.
The instantiation* of this seizure of power is the mandate in ObamaCare that each person MUST buy health insurance or suffer a fine.
The Supreme Court has ruled that Congress has no power to order States to do positive actions; Congress gets its way by subsidies or threat to withhold other funding. Such rulings were based on the Tenth Amendment, which states that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Notice that "the people" have an equal status in this Amendment.
Where else does the US Constitution permit the Federal Government to command the people ? I can find only in its right to raise armies, viz. draft people into the military. There is plenty of power to regulate and restrict activity, but that's NOT the power to give you orders to do something which you may not wish to do. There is power to tax in several places, but imposing fines for not doing something is not a tax.
One can find strong evidence that contrary view holds, viz. that the Federal Government has no powers to command the people except through a military draft.
The 13th Amendment in part states, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Is not a command to do something a form of involuntary servitude ? What else could it be but that power of a Baron to command his slaves or serfs to do work. There is no exception here for a general or implied power of the United States to command the people.
The Third Amendment states, "No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law." This was put into the Constitution because of centuries of abuses by English kings in forcing the people to quarter soldiers [here, "quarter" means to house and feed]. The kings did that either to avoid asking parliament for funds, as King Charles I did in the English Civil war, or as the English Parliament did in 1765 to force the colonies to pay for the support of British troop, and not the English people. That abuse was cited in the Declaration of Independence and led to the Third Amendment.
I see no logical conclusion but that the individual mandate in ObamaCare is unconstitutional and an abuse of power.
That doesn't mean that I don't support a universal health care benefit in the US. My blog post of October 21, 2009 specified the right way to provide this. You can find it in the Blog Archive on the right, but here's a direct link:
http://viewfromthebunker.blogspot.com/2009/10/solution-to-health-care-dilemma.html
My view on how to raise the money has changed, however. See my blog post of November 24, 2009; here's the link:
http://viewfromthebunker.blogspot.com/2009/11/to-solve-twin-deficits.html
If Congress would do the right thing, it could solve the three largest problems facing America: lack of jobs, budget deficits, and access to health care for the people. If Congress did this, I'm sure they would go down in history as the greatest Congress since the 1st Congress. But their current path is to go along the path of King Charles I and King George III in seizing more power and oppressing the people.
Markets
Waiting. I was a bit disappointed in the ISM Services #. Jobs in the US will mostly come from services, so that sector need to get a lot stronger.
PS: Sold the spec longs out. The crappy jobs number made the decision for me. If I hadn't, the Green-Red rule would have told me to sell anyway. Small net loss. Standing aside for now.
Word of the Day
"Instantiation" - noun [$10] noun, from "instantiate" = verb [$10]
Instantiate means to represent by an instance; (alternate) to represent (an abstract concept) by a concrete or tangible example.
Sentence: See * above.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Vomitous*
That adjective perfectly fits the Davos World Economic Forum. I'm listening to interviews of some of its participants on Blabberg this morning. Such blather ! These certified members of the ruling classes [aka the rich & powerful] don't know anything about fields beyond their own expertise or nor anything about the lives and difficulties of the common man, yet pontificate about how the world should be run and how the lives of the common man should be ruled. By who ? Them.
They blab about bubbles. What is the one bubble rarely mentioned ? The huge flow of money from the rich to hedge funds that play trading games and disturb real economic funds flows. Do they discuss how to burst that bubble ? Nope. Why ? Because most of the participants invest in hedge funds. Or run hedge funds. Or their pals runs hedge funds.
What is the single biggest risk in the world financial markets ? Credit default swaps. ["CDS"] Those "weapons of mass destruction" permit hedge funds to speculate cheaply in the credit of many, many corporations and nations. Those also create dangerous interconnections among financial institutions that can drag the entire system down if a single large institution messes up. Who is talking about banning those ? Few. There's moi [me] and David Einhorn, the fellow who correctly analysed and anticipated the Lehman debacle. Maybe Warrren Buffet. Why ? The ruling classes like the turmoil and their hedge fund investments make money for them. AIG was a credit default swap blow-up. That should be enough to make one realize those instruments should be banned. (I'd settle for requiring 100% cash collateral for anyone writing a CDS).
Turmoil gives the ruling classes power. That's how many aristocracies were created in medieval times. The common man was forced to become a serf to buy "protection" from armed, wealthy tribal chiefs because of fear of raids and assaults. Over time, those aristocracies then gained more and more powerful from the central government and eventually destroyed the nations.
Today the lobbyists of the ruling classes are working hard in DC and the capitals of Europe to get more power over our lives and perpetuate their positions. Davos is one place they coordinate ideas and tactics. That place should be seeing huge demonstrations from the angry public. Instead, the press fawns over their access to the bosses. It's sickening and I annually, publicly rant about how I despise that forum.
Davos is strictly for the vomitorium.
Lending
Blabberg says banks aren't lending. True. But those airheads don't think why. Banks prefer to speculate or own in securities. That's where the money is going. Why ? Because their trading desks can make money AND because the regulatory rules favor securities. If a bank had to put up more Tier 1 capital to own securities - which would help underwrite the huge market value risks in them - they would shift assets towards loans they can manage better.
Of course, governments like banks to buy their debt .. as securities. Sheesh, soooo much of public comment is sheer propaganda, it's infuriating at times.
Bernanke
I support his confirmation. Battleship Ben was one crucial force in preventing a global depression. True, he was a bit slow, as readers of this blog know. But like big, slow battleships, once his salvos got going, he crushed the forces of darkness.
Besides, since he's been doing what I write for about 2.5 years, how can I complain ? He's obviously a loyal reader now ;-)
Markets
Back to my old, seven language state:
Je ne fais rien.
Ich machte nichts.
Nic nie robię.
Estoy haciendo nada.
Non faccio nulla.
Nihil facio.
I am doing nothing.
Word of the Day
"Vomitous" - adjective [$100]
Vomitous means 1. of, pertaining to, or causing vomiting; 2. (informal) repugnant, disgusting, nauseating [e. g. vomitous business methods].
Sentence: Annually viewers of the financial media are subjected to vomitous reports from Davos, as the fawning press propagates the propaganda of the ruling classes as they seek more power over the common man.
They blab about bubbles. What is the one bubble rarely mentioned ? The huge flow of money from the rich to hedge funds that play trading games and disturb real economic funds flows. Do they discuss how to burst that bubble ? Nope. Why ? Because most of the participants invest in hedge funds. Or run hedge funds. Or their pals runs hedge funds.
What is the single biggest risk in the world financial markets ? Credit default swaps. ["CDS"] Those "weapons of mass destruction" permit hedge funds to speculate cheaply in the credit of many, many corporations and nations. Those also create dangerous interconnections among financial institutions that can drag the entire system down if a single large institution messes up. Who is talking about banning those ? Few. There's moi [me] and David Einhorn, the fellow who correctly analysed and anticipated the Lehman debacle. Maybe Warrren Buffet. Why ? The ruling classes like the turmoil and their hedge fund investments make money for them. AIG was a credit default swap blow-up. That should be enough to make one realize those instruments should be banned. (I'd settle for requiring 100% cash collateral for anyone writing a CDS).
Turmoil gives the ruling classes power. That's how many aristocracies were created in medieval times. The common man was forced to become a serf to buy "protection" from armed, wealthy tribal chiefs because of fear of raids and assaults. Over time, those aristocracies then gained more and more powerful from the central government and eventually destroyed the nations.
Today the lobbyists of the ruling classes are working hard in DC and the capitals of Europe to get more power over our lives and perpetuate their positions. Davos is one place they coordinate ideas and tactics. That place should be seeing huge demonstrations from the angry public. Instead, the press fawns over their access to the bosses. It's sickening and I annually, publicly rant about how I despise that forum.
Davos is strictly for the vomitorium.
Lending
Blabberg says banks aren't lending. True. But those airheads don't think why. Banks prefer to speculate or own in securities. That's where the money is going. Why ? Because their trading desks can make money AND because the regulatory rules favor securities. If a bank had to put up more Tier 1 capital to own securities - which would help underwrite the huge market value risks in them - they would shift assets towards loans they can manage better.
Of course, governments like banks to buy their debt .. as securities. Sheesh, soooo much of public comment is sheer propaganda, it's infuriating at times.
Bernanke
I support his confirmation. Battleship Ben was one crucial force in preventing a global depression. True, he was a bit slow, as readers of this blog know. But like big, slow battleships, once his salvos got going, he crushed the forces of darkness.
Besides, since he's been doing what I write for about 2.5 years, how can I complain ? He's obviously a loyal reader now ;-)
Markets
Back to my old, seven language state:
Je ne fais rien.
Ich machte nichts.
Nic nie robię.
Estoy haciendo nada.
Non faccio nulla.
Nihil facio.
I am doing nothing.
Word of the Day
"Vomitous" - adjective [$100]
Vomitous means 1. of, pertaining to, or causing vomiting; 2. (informal) repugnant, disgusting, nauseating [e. g. vomitous business methods].
Sentence: Annually viewers of the financial media are subjected to vomitous reports from Davos, as the fawning press propagates the propaganda of the ruling classes as they seek more power over the common man.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Another Blank Wednesday
Nothing "new" is happening, as usual.
More government lying - FT: "Greece was condemned by the European Commission on Tuesday for falsifying data about its public finances and allowing political pressures to obstruct the collection of accurate statistics."
More oppression and skulduggery in China - FT: "Google has said it will end the controversial censorship of its search service in China and risk being thrown out of the world’s most populous internet market, following what it claimed were Chinese-based attempts to hack into its systems and those of other international companies. The group also said it had found evidence of attempts to break into its Gmail system, with partial success in two cases, and many other attempts to trick “dozens” of human rights activists around the world in order to access to their email."
China is a military dictatorship ruled by a clique of Communist party officials; that's all one needs to remember.
Rules don't apply to Democrats. The normal process of legislation would be a full conference committee to reconcile the House and Senate versions of ObamaCare. But the Democrats are doing this among themselves behind closed doors.
Chavez continues to act the role of the 21th century Fidel - WSJ: President Hugo Chávez's decision to devalue Venezuela's currency in order to shore up government finances could backfire on the populist leader if the move leads to substantially higher prices and extends an economic downturn. Just days after Mr. Chávez cut the value of the "strong bolivar" currency, some businesses were marking up prices. Shoppers jammed stores to stock up on goods before the increases took hold."
The common element in all the above: malfeasance by the ruling classes. The only political system that can produce maximal freedom in a dynamical world over time is populist libertarianism, where the ruling classes are strictly regulated and controlled, while the common man is completely free.
Oh well ... time marches on.
Word of the Day
"Chary" - adjective [$10]
Chary means 1. cautious, wary (e. g., chary of employing such people); 2. sparing, ungenerous (e. g., chary of giving praise).
Sentence: With ObamaCare looming and likely large tax hikes, any thinking business owner must be quite chary of new hiring.
More government lying - FT: "Greece was condemned by the European Commission on Tuesday for falsifying data about its public finances and allowing political pressures to obstruct the collection of accurate statistics."
More oppression and skulduggery in China - FT: "Google has said it will end the controversial censorship of its search service in China and risk being thrown out of the world’s most populous internet market, following what it claimed were Chinese-based attempts to hack into its systems and those of other international companies. The group also said it had found evidence of attempts to break into its Gmail system, with partial success in two cases, and many other attempts to trick “dozens” of human rights activists around the world in order to access to their email."
China is a military dictatorship ruled by a clique of Communist party officials; that's all one needs to remember.
Rules don't apply to Democrats. The normal process of legislation would be a full conference committee to reconcile the House and Senate versions of ObamaCare. But the Democrats are doing this among themselves behind closed doors.
Chavez continues to act the role of the 21th century Fidel - WSJ: President Hugo Chávez's decision to devalue Venezuela's currency in order to shore up government finances could backfire on the populist leader if the move leads to substantially higher prices and extends an economic downturn. Just days after Mr. Chávez cut the value of the "strong bolivar" currency, some businesses were marking up prices. Shoppers jammed stores to stock up on goods before the increases took hold."
The common element in all the above: malfeasance by the ruling classes. The only political system that can produce maximal freedom in a dynamical world over time is populist libertarianism, where the ruling classes are strictly regulated and controlled, while the common man is completely free.
Oh well ... time marches on.
Word of the Day
"Chary" - adjective [$10]
Chary means 1. cautious, wary (e. g., chary of employing such people); 2. sparing, ungenerous (e. g., chary of giving praise).
Sentence: With ObamaCare looming and likely large tax hikes, any thinking business owner must be quite chary of new hiring.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
A Holiday Wednesday ...
surprisingly has some interesting news.
But first, read the Wall Street Journal's annual editorial writings for the day before Thanksgiving. Although identical for almost 50 years, the writing seems to have special meaning every year. If you don't subscribe, I posted a copy last year - see link below.
http://viewfromthebunker.blogspot.com/2008/11/thanksgiving.html
Now to the News ...
The Russian gangocracy keeps getting bolder: FT - quote begins***
A London-based Russian lawyer allegedly received death threats before and after the sudden death in a Moscow jail of Sergei Magnitsky, a colleague who had accused the police of involvement in a corruption case. ... Hermitage said it believed the death-threat text messages sent from a Russian mobile phone over the last month were a warning. They could indicate Magnitsky was killed rather than dying of natural causes after complaining for months he had been denied medical treatment for a serious stomach condition, it said. "
A text message sent on November 8 said, “If history has taught us anything, it is that anyone can be killed”, according to Hermitage. An earlier message sent on October 23 said: “What could be more frightening . . . I don’t know, death . . . or prison.”
Mr Browder said on Tuesday: “It all started to crystallise after we got the fifth message literally gloating about Magnitsky’s death . . . These messages combined with bruises [that were seen] on his hand . . . and the cover-up over his autopsy lead us to believe there is a real possibility he didn’t die of natural causes.” ***quote ends.
It is rather obvious that Putin & Medvedev are involved in protecting this crowd. No one should be doing any business with this gangocracy until it's cleaned up.
Washington Post concentrates on the DC ruling classes to feed it.
From WSJ - quote begins***
Washington Post Co.'s flagship paper plans to close its remaining U.S. news bureaus outside of the Washington area, in a symbolic retreat for one of the country's major news organizations.
The six affected journalists in the New York, Los Angeles and Chicago bureaus will be offered new posts in Washington. Three news aides in those locations will lose their jobs, the Post said.
The closures are effective Dec. 31
The move is an acknowledgement the paper—which helped force the resignation of President Richard Nixon and recently won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of influence wielded by former Vice President Dick Cheney—is focusing more on its backyard.
"It's necessary to concentrate our journalistic firepower on our central mission of covering Washington and the news, trends and ideas that shape both the region and the country's politics, policies and government," Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli and other top Post editors said in a memo to staff.
***quote ends
To paraphrase, the people no longer matter to the Washington Post - all power is flowing to the center and all importance occurs there in the court of the ruling classes.
Actions
Ms. Market seems to have endurance for dancing, and the band seems to be tuning its instruments for a new set of songs. What will be the theme song for this set ? Will it be Happy Days Are Here Again or Brother, Can You Spare a Dime ? Maybe a lively Louis Armstrong tune from the 1920s will spur Ms. Market to do a wild jitterbug with a big bull ?
At this time I am still doing nothing. I have plenty of cash, but see few screaming buys or sells. I'm still riding the bull elephant to the next water hole, surveying the landscape to a change in trend.
Word of the Day
"Deontological" - adjective [$10] and "Deontology" [$10]; from Kant.
Deontology means the study of duty.
Sentences:
(A) [from course notes of "Great Ideas of Philosophy", part 3, page 46 - a CD course from The Teaching Company] "Central to any deontological theory is the idea that it takes the imperative of certain moral precepts to be unconditional."
(B) From behavior observed, one can conclude that both the DC ruling classes and the Russian gangocracy both flunked deontology in their studies, or never even signed up, as both are concerned solely with their own power and wealth.
But first, read the Wall Street Journal's annual editorial writings for the day before Thanksgiving. Although identical for almost 50 years, the writing seems to have special meaning every year. If you don't subscribe, I posted a copy last year - see link below.
http://viewfromthebunker.blogspot.com/2008/11/thanksgiving.html
Now to the News ...
The Russian gangocracy keeps getting bolder: FT - quote begins***
A London-based Russian lawyer allegedly received death threats before and after the sudden death in a Moscow jail of Sergei Magnitsky, a colleague who had accused the police of involvement in a corruption case. ... Hermitage said it believed the death-threat text messages sent from a Russian mobile phone over the last month were a warning. They could indicate Magnitsky was killed rather than dying of natural causes after complaining for months he had been denied medical treatment for a serious stomach condition, it said. "
A text message sent on November 8 said, “If history has taught us anything, it is that anyone can be killed”, according to Hermitage. An earlier message sent on October 23 said: “What could be more frightening . . . I don’t know, death . . . or prison.”
Mr Browder said on Tuesday: “It all started to crystallise after we got the fifth message literally gloating about Magnitsky’s death . . . These messages combined with bruises [that were seen] on his hand . . . and the cover-up over his autopsy lead us to believe there is a real possibility he didn’t die of natural causes.” ***quote ends.
It is rather obvious that Putin & Medvedev are involved in protecting this crowd. No one should be doing any business with this gangocracy until it's cleaned up.
Washington Post concentrates on the DC ruling classes to feed it.
From WSJ - quote begins***
Washington Post Co.'s flagship paper plans to close its remaining U.S. news bureaus outside of the Washington area, in a symbolic retreat for one of the country's major news organizations.
The six affected journalists in the New York, Los Angeles and Chicago bureaus will be offered new posts in Washington. Three news aides in those locations will lose their jobs, the Post said.
The closures are effective Dec. 31
The move is an acknowledgement the paper—which helped force the resignation of President Richard Nixon and recently won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of influence wielded by former Vice President Dick Cheney—is focusing more on its backyard.
"It's necessary to concentrate our journalistic firepower on our central mission of covering Washington and the news, trends and ideas that shape both the region and the country's politics, policies and government," Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli and other top Post editors said in a memo to staff.
***quote ends
To paraphrase, the people no longer matter to the Washington Post - all power is flowing to the center and all importance occurs there in the court of the ruling classes.
Actions
Ms. Market seems to have endurance for dancing, and the band seems to be tuning its instruments for a new set of songs. What will be the theme song for this set ? Will it be Happy Days Are Here Again or Brother, Can You Spare a Dime ? Maybe a lively Louis Armstrong tune from the 1920s will spur Ms. Market to do a wild jitterbug with a big bull ?
At this time I am still doing nothing. I have plenty of cash, but see few screaming buys or sells. I'm still riding the bull elephant to the next water hole, surveying the landscape to a change in trend.
Word of the Day
"Deontological" - adjective [$10] and "Deontology" [$10]; from Kant.
Deontology means the study of duty.
Sentences:
(A) [from course notes of "Great Ideas of Philosophy", part 3, page 46 - a CD course from The Teaching Company] "Central to any deontological theory is the idea that it takes the imperative of certain moral precepts to be unconditional."
(B) From behavior observed, one can conclude that both the DC ruling classes and the Russian gangocracy both flunked deontology in their studies, or never even signed up, as both are concerned solely with their own power and wealth.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Puking ...
as I listen to Blabberg cover the Forbes' 400 list of richest people in the world. That is one annual event that always makes me grab the barf bag. This adulation of the richest and most powerful is simply one of the most foolish actions of the American press. I can only reply with that fine quote from Pericles, the famed leader of ancient Athens:
"We cultivate refinement without extravagance and knowledge without effeminacy; wealth we employ more for use than for show, and place the real disgrace of poverty not in owning to the fact but in declining the struggle against it."
The Forbes 400 is the antithesis of this laudable sentiment. Most of those people spend their time and money simply trying to make more money or spending it extravagantly. Bill Gates excepted.
Word of the Day
Misprision - noun [$10 - mis prizh' en]; from Shakespeare & Mrs. B.
Misprision means 1. maladministration of public affairs; 2. neglect in preventing or reporting a crime.
Sentence: The Obama administration so far deserves considerable opprobrium for misprision; perhaps it's due to his inexperience in the executive branch, but he needs to get some people in his government who know how to run complex systems.
Shakespeare's usage -
So thy great gift, upon misprision growing,
Comes home again, on better judgement making.
Le Mot du Jour
Remanier - verb, transitive; conjugated like 'prier'
Remanier means to rework, revise modify, reorganize.
La Phrase: Obama doit remanier sa adminstration dés que possible.
Sentence: Obama should reorganize his administration as soon as possible.
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