Learn Planets

Science curriculum and astronomy have sure come a long way since my day.

Lessons Wall Street is Teaching Us

1.  Power corrupts.

2.  Them that has gets more.

3.  Capitalism has been raised to the level of religion.

4.  People believe what they want to believe.

5.  Most people who claim to be engaged in ethical reasoning are actually engaged in ethical rationalization.  Justifying rather than objectively scrutinizing their own actions.

6.  The more you consume, the more you need to comsume.

7.  When you get really rich and successful, you start to believe you deserve it.

8.  And you come up with impressive belief systems (ideologies) to justify your great wealth and success.

9.  And you have the influence, money and political savvy to get enough non-rich people to believe as you do, or at least to go along with it.

10.  Your worldview gets out of whack unless you get whacked regularly.  It’s time for a good wacking.  One that will reverberate for at least several decades.

Up there at the highest reaches of wealth in our country, some really twisted ideology has taken hold.  I doubt self-reflection or reasoned discussion has any chance of dislodging it.  Some heads need to roll for it to ever change.  The only thing that will overcome this kind of greed is fear.  They have to know that people feel so strongly about their sick ideology and behavior that their insular world is threatened unless they change.

The toxic ideology is “laissez-faire capitalism”.  Which is French for “Leave us capitalists completely alone to run things as we see fit”.  This desire has turned into a powerful ideology that is elevated above the level of religion and philosohy.  In other words, the desire to be completely exempt from government or popular  interference has become a self-justifying belief system that matters to its proponents more than what ethics, conscience or sense of justice might otherwise dictate.  And ethics, conscience or sense of justice are realm of religion and philosophy.  The laissez-faire proponents are also ignoring a great deal of history.

Look, history has taught us two things about economic systems.  One is that a pure socialist system works badly.  The other is that a pure capitalist system works badly.  Most Americans seem to get–or have been inclucated to believe–that pure socialism fails.  But a lot of people conveniently forget what history shows about pure capitalism.  Pure capitalism leads to abusive monopolies, like those that were exposed and then outlawed in the first two decades of the 1900s.  Unbridled capitalism leads to excessive speculation, like that which caused the Great Stock Market Crash and Great Depression.  And that which is now causing the Great Recession.  In other words, completely unregulated capitalism always leads to abuse and eventually economic disaster.

The moral of the story is that while too much government oversight or regulation stifles economic growth, having zero government regulation is equally disasterous.  So the question is not whether government regulation is good or bad.  The question is how much government regulation is desirable.

So the next time someone tells you that government has no business telling business what to do and that all regulation is bad, tell them they’re full of crap.  Or at least that they are being stupidly simplistic.  Yeah, the business of America is business.  But without the right amount of government oversight the business of America screws America. 

So let’s stop talking about whether regulation is good or evil.  Because clearly its a necessary evil.  What we need to talk about is what is the most practical type and amount of regulation that will let business thrive without letting business run amok.

But I don’t think discourse will get us there.  I think that there have to be enough Wall Street types suffering enough drastic consequences that several decades hence they and their successors will remember.  And they will think:  “Wow, remember what happened after the Great Recession of 2008 started.  We really got whacked.  We better not do that again.” 

Fear is the only thing powerful enough to limit their greed.

The most important things in life

The most important things in life–beyond basic “for survival” needs–are:

Heath, Love and Meaning.

In that order.  Eye’ve long believed that.  For many centuries.

…when others are starving?

Question to ask youself:

How can you live extravagantly when others are starving?

Once you’ve answered that, ask yourself this:

Does your answer to the first question make good, hard ethical sense?

Or is it a rationalization?  Most of us believe what we want to believe.  (Even us augurs!)  We engage in “ethical justification” rather than “ethical analysis”.   Which are you doing now?  And now here’s the third question:

How would it feel to spend your excess money–yes, you have some–on something that helps someone truly in need?

Might feel good?  Noble?  See yourself in a new light?  This poses the question a little differently:

Besides enjoying yourself and meeting obligations to your family, friends, employer & community…what is the meaning of your life?  Does it have such a meaning?

Now, you might be asking:  “Mr. Resius, how much of my money is excess?   Isn’t that all relative?”  Excellent question, Grasshopper!  Answer it for yourself.  Honestly.

Ty Resius does not intend to preach here.  These are the questions he is asking himself.  The Great Recession we are experiencing (9/08) is changing his perspective.  It has now become clear that, despite our collective wealth, many of us are jobless, homeless, broke or struggling to avoid it.  Or at least worried it could happen to us.  It has also come clear that people with such problems are not that different than you and Mee.  They are not “The Other”.  They are not necessarily bad people, or irresponsible, or anything else that gives you or Mee an excuse for ignoring their plight.  Could you be next?

The older Ty Resius gets, the more he wants his life to have some special meaning before it’s over, and the less important other things seem.  Now that Eye, Resius, am over two millennia old, Eye think about this more and more.  Don’t wait that long before you think hard about it!

The Great Recession

At least one observer seems to be calling the current crisis, “The Great Recession”.  I, Resius….find this clever and sardonic and applaud the originator’s humor and insight.  We are not clear yet whether this crisis will fit the official definition of “Depression”, but we know for sure that it is “Great”.  And this term is far superior to the current mantra of “greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression”.

But this is just a temporary moniker.  We still need one for historical purposes.  Like 9/08!

Bernie, help us understand.

Mr. Madoff, in the previous post you heard what we most want from you…a sincere effort to undo as much damage as you can. 

But there’s something else we want from you.  Because beyond the enormous financial damage you have done, you have damaged our faith in human nature.  A little explanation of why you did this, could go a long way to mending that.

People who have been traumatized spend vast amounts of mental energy trying to make sense of why the trauma happened.  Their minds go over circumsances again and again, endlessly trying to piece together a story that would make sense to them.  They cannot rest until they do.  Theyare seeking to heal their worldview.  You can help them stop grieving and move on. 

We are stunned.  Especially the victims, but not just them, all of us.  How could a man of your intelligence and priviledge and heritage do this?   Do any of the following explanations fit?

1.  The pleasure you got from living so large was so extreme that it exceeded the guilt and fear that came with it.  OR

2.  For some reason, you just don’t experience the guilt and fear that most people would.  OR

3.  There was substantial guilt and fear, but you had some way of rationalizing it away, comparmentalizing it away or distancing yourself from it .  OR

4.  You got a thrill from doing it.  OR

5.  This was some kind of obsession or addiction.  OR

6.  You are so deeply insecure that you needed the trappings, the trappings or the validation from being a big shot and living extravigantly. OR

7.  You are so deeply selfish that your pleasures outweighed your chagrin at how harmful and unethical you were being. OR

8.  You became so fearful of what would happen when you got caught that you couldn’t bring yourself to stop. OR

9.  You imagined that you would not get caught, or might die before you got caught.

10.  Your are missing some part(s) of the normal repertoire of human feeling and did not really feel bad about what you were doing.

11.  You are delusional and did not grasp the reality.  OR

12.  You are a sociopath.  OR

13.  Your are just plain evil.

Believe me, I’m not asking this to berate you or criticize you.  I’m curious.  I’m baffled.  I just want to know how to square this with the reasonably sophisticated and nuanced understanding I have of the mind and human nature.

In my life I’ve encountered players, gamblers, ethical weaklings, cowards, liers, theives, delusionals, thrill-seekers, alcoholics, addicts, kleptomaniacs, nymphomaniacs, pyromaniacs, egomaniacs, schizophrenics, co-dependants and bipolars.  And of course plenty of people that were deeply immature, deeply insecure, neurotic, selfish, bitter, mean, conflicted and/or confused.  Which of these or other categories do you fit in?

I need to know.  And I’m not even a victim.  I’m sure that when they get beyond some of their disbelief and anger, they will be searching and groping  endlessly for some explanation they can understand of what went wrong.

So I’m making a serious request and suggestion.  Don’t just stop at trying to get some of the money back.  Help us understand what made you act so exceptionally.  So we can recover some faith in the better aspects of human nature.

What I most want from you, Bernie Madoff.

Make the maximum effort to undo some of the damage you have done.  Cooperate with the authorities with full disclosure.  Willingly relinquish your all your assets.  Encourage your family and everyone else involved to do the same.  This is the only sincere way to say I’m sorry.   Anything else will ring hollow.

You have hurt so many people so badly.  Including yourself and your family.  Dedicating the rest of your life to undoing whatever damage you can is your only chance to redeem yourself a little.

Bernie Made Off with their money

Why would so many people trust a guy whose last name that sounds like “MADE OFF”?  Wasn’t Madoff a tipoff that he would make off with their money?

Why not invest with someone named Diamond?  Or Golden?  Or Silverman?  Or at least Coppersmith!

The victims list includes names like Larry Silverstein, Sterling Capital and Marc Rich.  They in particular should have known better.

(No offense intended.  Looking for a little humor in a terrible situation.  Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from gnashing your teeth.)

Nine-O-Eight

About this global economic crisis…Let’s call it 9/08.

After all, it needs a name for posterity.  And what we are going through is the economic equivalent of 9/11.

So why not call this event 9/08?  That’s the month when we really started sinking fast.

Catchy?  Dumb?  Disrespectful?  Clever?  If you like it, just link to this blog and may it spread virally.

No one else has come up with a name for it beyond “Global Economic Crisis”.  And that is too generic and bland.

We are really screwing up the future for our children and theirs.  The least we can do is give them an entertainging name for this mess…so future history classes will seem a little less boring to them!

Earth to Ben Bernanke…Duh!

From our Acute Statement of the Obvious Desk…

Yesterday the Chairman of the Federal Reserve made a momentous announcement:  He, Ben Bernanke, has now concluded that the government should regulate risk-taking by all major segments of the country’s financial system.  And not just regulate conventional banks.*

Our collective response to this flash of insight should be…Duh!

Benjamin!  Dude!  You can  sum up the lesson of the last century of US economic history in one sentence:  If the government does not provide some basic regulation of lending in some major sector of the financial system, then sooner or later that sector will  take too much risk with Other People’s Money and cause a financial crisis that hurts everyone.

Why the Deuce did it take Bernanke and the Federal Reserve  so long to figure that one out?  Geez, that’s something any Joe Blog can deduce.

That’s not a matter of macroeconmics or high finance.  To figure that out, you don’t need to be a brainius nobel laureate like Uncle Ben.

That’s just a matter of human nature:   People who have a lot to gain by taking high risks with Other People’s Money will eventually take too much risk.

History Review:  First the banks took too much risk lending and it caused the Great Stock Market Crash and Great Depression.  So we regulated banks.

Then the savings and loans took too much risk lending and caused a crises that hurt a lot of people and required the government to bail out and kick butt.  So we regulated S&Ls.

Now the investment banks, insurance companies and hedge funds have taken over mortgage lending and taken too much risk and got us into This Mess.  Which brings Ben Bernanke to the startling realization of the need to regulate those financial institutions too.

Duh!

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* “The chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke, called on Tuesday for a broad overhaul of financial regulation that would include a powerful new regulator to keep a much tighter grip on institutions considered “too big to fail…..Mr. Bernanke called on Congress to create a superregulator that would oversee risks and risk-management practices across the financial system and have authority over companies regardless of whether they were banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies or hedge funds.“  NYTimes 3/10/09 (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/business/economy/11fed.html)