tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post2145693326681315714..comments2023-10-30T09:23:42.803-05:00Comments on Some Assembly Required: SAR #9261/WeekenderCharles Kingsley Michaelson, IIIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04364694465614330540noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-91007197708000343862009-09-20T01:41:40.276-05:002009-09-20T01:41:40.276-05:00Hi ckm;
I enjoyed the link to Confusion. I though...Hi ckm;<br /><br />I enjoyed the link to Confusion. I thought about something for a while about a decade or two ago : Why is it that top business people are ignoring the huge warning signs of collapse in just about every form (economic, social, political and even spiritual).<br /><br />My current working hypothesis is something rather obvious : Armageddon is the desired outcome. It is a huge human emotional desire.<br /><br />In most religions, faith is all you need to get your 'eternal reward in heaven guarantee' and Armageddon (in whatever form) is the day when all those pesky people you don't personally like get annihilated and you live happily ever after in heaven - forever.<br /><br />In business this takes the form of 'supply and demand'. Annihilate the supply (by turning useful stuff into completely toxic stuff) and you increase your profit margin and power.<br /><br />In other words (in business) annihilation of resources (called consumption today) is the desired outcome. It is really hard to increase demand but it is really easy to reduce supply.<br /><br />Both groups share the same thought - they'll be dead before it gets really horrible so a decent future doesn't matter anyway. They've got their 'heaven guarantee' or 'heaven on Earth guarantee'. If 10 year olds want a better future then they simply have to wrest power out of the hands of the power brokers in business, government, crime and the military. Natural selection.<br /><br />And current technology is making the poor 'a useless burden'. You used to need the dexterity of masses of poor people to clean your facilities, make stuff and fight wars. Now you need masses of machines. So (their thinking) - why not let the poor become extinct through natural selection? You don't need a lot of humans now. Keep a few poor humans as handy worker-bees and pets and the social justice is perfect - they get food, clothing, shelter and whatever education they need to fulfil your wishes efficiently.<br /><br />So my big question is - What can anybody do to change the burning emotional desire that most people have - consciously or subconsciously - to help to *make* the world end ASAP?<br /><br />In my opinion, there is only one way - the butterfly effect. Finding the small input to the system that can produce a large enough reaction to turn an (IMHO) insane process of destruction into a positive and sustainable process with a self-policing feedback loop.<br /><br />Perhaps sensible people were hoping that President Obama could be this small input to the system. For now at least, it looks like it will be a different 'small input'. We'll see.<br /><br />Thanks for a great blog!Namke von Federleinhttp://emsjuwel.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-6761910449956659802009-09-19T21:59:38.871-05:002009-09-19T21:59:38.871-05:00KA - Ah, I wish you'd stop stealling my stuff....KA - Ah, I wish you'd stop stealling my stuff... But you are quite right in your concers and I'll be beating that drum some more come Monday. <br /><br />You can snack on this Michael Panzner item in the meantime, especially the stuff from “Breakfast with Dave.” (http://www.financialarmageddon.com/2009/09/double-helping-of-the-astute-mr-rosenberg.html)<br /><br />ckmCharles Kingsley Michaelson, IIIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04364694465614330540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-48446238080851952002009-09-19T20:58:31.163-05:002009-09-19T20:58:31.163-05:00There is no evidence of the earnings the market ha...There is no evidence of the earnings the market has priced in. Some of that can be accounted for in the ZIRP driving money to the markets, but at some point overbought reaches a level that puts everybody on edge.<br /><br />If there is still nothing but air under the markets when nerves start fraying, then everyone will be in a hurry to take down profits.<br /><br />This could have a huge psychological effect on businesses who have been holding out on the hope that real recovery is close. They will dig in for a long slog, and unemployment will spike from an already high level.<br /><br />There is some point where deflation turns cyclical. I don't know where it is, but I hate the fact that we may be tempting it.<br /><br />This course of reflation we are on screams danger, IMO. We are still wildly deleveraging. No one is even hinting that the end of foreclosures is near. The list of troubled banks is growing, not shrinking.<br /><br />To me, it seems obvious that deleveraging has to run its course before any thought of blowing another bubble can happen. They are digging the hole as fast as it can be filled in. This is all for the banks, and their interest happens to coincide with short term political interests too. That is a lousy combination.K Ackermannnoreply@blogger.com