Thank you Rand Paul! You have done everyone a service, albeit unwittingly, by revealing why your brand of Republicanism, and Republican philosophy in general, isn't relevant to America today. With people like Dr. Paul in charge, things would be very different. The states would control education, for instance, so that more than even now, Texans could teach one thing and Pennsylvanians could teach something else. Goodbye, Dept of Education. And so long Environmental Protection. You're not needed. Trusty business leaders would surely police themselves just like the Wall Streeters did. (Remember Alan Greenspan's shock, shock, that they didn't?) It's inspiring to hear Dr. Paul explain that mining accidents happen. Guess those widows and children should stop their weeping and just be thankful that they had jobs even though they knew every day in the mines might be their last, so poorly were they regulated. How about oil spills? Joe Kennedy, the father, famously said that business men were bastards, but of course he was a Democrat. He knew that profit hungry corporations would seldom be really good citizens, do more than give money away, without the Sheriff watching. Rand Paul doesn't think we need those pesky watchdogs.
But it's on the social side of national issues that Dr. Paul has been of particular service to the country. If elected, he's made it clear he would surely champion the Republican dream of repealing the New Deal and it's most recent offspring, ObamaCare, to say nothing of Medicare, Americans with Disabilities, etc. He doesn't feel private business owners should be required to do anything they don't want to do, like desegregating their restaurants. And on it goes. Left to Dr. Paul, this country would only be partially desegregated even today. It's really difficult to envision the mischievous results of power in his hands. There's always Newt Gingrich, who compares Obama to Hitler and Stalin, and defends his position!
Thank you also, Dr. Paul , for helping us decide what kind of a Constitution we want, as America moves into the 21st Century. Strict observance would save so much trouble. If the problem wasn't envisioned by the Founding Fathers, Dr. Paul would just let nature take it's course. Why you could probably abolish half a dozen other governmental departments and hundreds of agencies in the interest of economy and he and his friends would never notice a difference. Too bad about the others, but someone has to be on the bottom of the ladder. Right? Wrong!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Another Greek Tragedy
The economic collapse of Greece undermines one of my favorite theories. In the past, I have frequently excused America's errors on the fact that we are such a young and immature society. What excuse is there for today's Greek tragedy?
One of the few textbooks I have retained over the years is The Echo of Greece by Edith Hamilton. It outlines the glorious, unmatched contributions to western culture made by the likes of Socrates, Plato, Homer, etc.. Indeed, there are few Americans who don't know where the Olympics began, and so on. This is surely a mature society with a history going back 3, 000 years. So what happened? Surely, there's a lesson for us.
I'm no more professionally qualified to conduct a critical examination of a nation with an ancient culture, than the guy who is contemplating emergency brain surgery in the ad about the importance of getting a good night's sleep at Holiday Inn. I have read many detective novels, however, and so let's round up the usual suspects.
My two brothers are ex-warrior officers, men who served well in the military. One was a a professional soldier in 3 wars and, the other was a member of America's elite 82nd Airborn Division, who made countless jumps. They subscribe to the maxim that there are no bad soldiers, just poor officers. With this in mind, I'd start with the leading Greek politicians of the late 20th Century. Then I'd gather the foolish people who elected them, who abandoned their magnificent heritage and loved being pandered to with "vacation bonuses" and the like. Each government apparently outdid every predecessor in lax tax enforcement and unbounded optimism. Fiscally, there wasn't an ounce of Spartan discipline to be found.
We're much smarter here, of course, and still seemingly content to let a handful of bankers pretty much run everything so that one half of one percent of the population makes more in a day than members of the underclasses, like me do in a month. Let them enjoy their $9,000,000 bonuses and drink their $350 glasses of wine. Huge changes are on the way.
One of the few textbooks I have retained over the years is The Echo of Greece by Edith Hamilton. It outlines the glorious, unmatched contributions to western culture made by the likes of Socrates, Plato, Homer, etc.. Indeed, there are few Americans who don't know where the Olympics began, and so on. This is surely a mature society with a history going back 3, 000 years. So what happened? Surely, there's a lesson for us.
I'm no more professionally qualified to conduct a critical examination of a nation with an ancient culture, than the guy who is contemplating emergency brain surgery in the ad about the importance of getting a good night's sleep at Holiday Inn. I have read many detective novels, however, and so let's round up the usual suspects.
My two brothers are ex-warrior officers, men who served well in the military. One was a a professional soldier in 3 wars and, the other was a member of America's elite 82nd Airborn Division, who made countless jumps. They subscribe to the maxim that there are no bad soldiers, just poor officers. With this in mind, I'd start with the leading Greek politicians of the late 20th Century. Then I'd gather the foolish people who elected them, who abandoned their magnificent heritage and loved being pandered to with "vacation bonuses" and the like. Each government apparently outdid every predecessor in lax tax enforcement and unbounded optimism. Fiscally, there wasn't an ounce of Spartan discipline to be found.
We're much smarter here, of course, and still seemingly content to let a handful of bankers pretty much run everything so that one half of one percent of the population makes more in a day than members of the underclasses, like me do in a month. Let them enjoy their $9,000,000 bonuses and drink their $350 glasses of wine. Huge changes are on the way.
Friday, May 7, 2010
The Death of Wall Street
When one dies of natural causes, it is likely that an undertaker will prepare the body in question for burial or cremation. It's been a reliable business for millenia.
If you live in most of the civilized world and have money, it is as hard to avoid some involvement with Wall Street as it is to avoid the men in black. Financial exchanges have been around almost forever, too. The Wall St. we know today, however, is on the way to the undertakers. In recent weeks, it has been authoritatively denounced as a casino run for the very few at the expense of the many, and far worse. (See my blog Vol. 6 #123.) There is a good chance that some of it's leaders will ultimately go to jail, despite the best lawyers billions can buy.
Yesterday, a computer glitch may have caused untold disasters for many, whose "bodies will be floating to the surface," today and in the days to come, as one commentator put it. The market plunged seemingly out of control for a short period of time. Why? Because the vast majority of daily trades on the NYSE are done by computers responding to formulae created by those bright young geeks who invaded Wall Street and displaced many of those nice white haired old men from the Round Hill Club. Fortunately, the collapse didn't last and I'm certain someone will be saying soon that the system worked, but it didn't.
I bet the average American doesn't know about all those geeks and algorithims, but it doesn't really matter because the average American isn't going anywhere near Wall Street for the forseeable future. Nor should he! Wall Street is no place for the ABOVE average American either. It's for pros only. They apparently know that the books of a fine company can be easily cooked, that the AAA ratings can be purchased or influenced and all the other games that can be played. Maybe that's why the pros are abandoning the old ways and focusing on the games. At the moment, the picture is sickening. Something huge is happening, tectonic actually, that is going to lead to systemic changes in the way we in the western world think and live. It's going to take a while, but it's coming.
If you live in most of the civilized world and have money, it is as hard to avoid some involvement with Wall Street as it is to avoid the men in black. Financial exchanges have been around almost forever, too. The Wall St. we know today, however, is on the way to the undertakers. In recent weeks, it has been authoritatively denounced as a casino run for the very few at the expense of the many, and far worse. (See my blog Vol. 6 #123.) There is a good chance that some of it's leaders will ultimately go to jail, despite the best lawyers billions can buy.
Yesterday, a computer glitch may have caused untold disasters for many, whose "bodies will be floating to the surface," today and in the days to come, as one commentator put it. The market plunged seemingly out of control for a short period of time. Why? Because the vast majority of daily trades on the NYSE are done by computers responding to formulae created by those bright young geeks who invaded Wall Street and displaced many of those nice white haired old men from the Round Hill Club. Fortunately, the collapse didn't last and I'm certain someone will be saying soon that the system worked, but it didn't.
I bet the average American doesn't know about all those geeks and algorithims, but it doesn't really matter because the average American isn't going anywhere near Wall Street for the forseeable future. Nor should he! Wall Street is no place for the ABOVE average American either. It's for pros only. They apparently know that the books of a fine company can be easily cooked, that the AAA ratings can be purchased or influenced and all the other games that can be played. Maybe that's why the pros are abandoning the old ways and focusing on the games. At the moment, the picture is sickening. Something huge is happening, tectonic actually, that is going to lead to systemic changes in the way we in the western world think and live. It's going to take a while, but it's coming.
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