time for another update
I'm alive! Work is very slow this year, I have no idea how I'll make it through the summer just yet. But I'm still working long hours. Quite a few new thoughts and ideas, but just so tired right now.
Why is the economy tanking? Because we think so. It's interesting, the economy works just like we think it does, except it doesn't. It works the way we think it does not because that's the way it works but because we think it does. Weird huh? So when the collective "we" thinks it's tanking, it tanks. And it tanks because of the reasons we collectively think it tanks.
That's what makes this election so important. Well, one of the reasons anyway. Policy doesn't matter. The President can't control the economy, though I'm certain that those who hold the office wish they could. Even the Fed Chief can't control the economy. He can steer it, but it's really an illusion. He can steer it because we believe he can. He tells people something so convoluted that we don't really know just what he told us, but it sounds plausible so we believe it. And it's just enough to make us believe that things will work out in a certain way, and so they do. At least that's the way it worked when Greenspan was the Fed Chief. Now we have Bernanke, he's new and Bush (my not favorite one) appointed him. He kind of had to though because he's the President and he needed to control the economy because he's the President and it looks bad if he can't. And Bernanke is a bright guy and qualified to take the reins from Greenspan. So what choice did Bush have? It was either Bernanke or put some other patsy in that nobody would credibly believe and tank the economy. So we got Bernanke. But he's new and not established and people were afraid of who'd replace Greenspan and if anyone was like me they really didn't look forward to Bush appointing Greenspan's replacement. So Bernanke has kind of a tough job. He has to come in and appear to belong as Greenspan's successor. He has to create a smooth transition from the Greenspan era, he needs to look like he's coming in and not running roughshod over the past few decades that Greenspan has overseen and kept on track quite well.
But he also has to create a new economy out of what Greenspan left, because he isn't Greenspan so Greenspan's economy can't continue. I think we're there right now. Unfortunately for Bernanke, we're also in the midst of a perfect storm, so many different things going haywire at the same moment in history. It destroys the collective "we's" faith in the system that only works because we have faith in it, and when we see these other things going haywire we use it to confirm our fears. So we have a potential collapse of a long-established and factually broken system on our hands, and the only thing of large enough scale to restore our faith in a system and make it work, is an imminent election.
It's not that the election itself will fix anything. It's also not that the new President, whoever that may be, will have anything to do with bringing back the economy. He or she can't, because the President has no control over it. What's important at this stage is that the collective "we" have our faith restored that everything will work out and everything will be ok. That's the only thing that will spur the economy and get things moving again. It's a frightening thought for a few reasons.
One, the saying "pride goeth before a fall." There's been an AWFUL lot of pride goething (my own word invention) for the past several years, and I'm afraid that we will be so self-absorbed in all these ridiculous politics of the past decade or two that we'll lose sight of what's actually necessary and important (not in a words way, in an actual physical real genuine way) and continue voting for politics and politicians. It's not going to take policy to fix what's wrong right now. It's going to take hope and faith and belief (not the right-wing, school shootings happen because we're not praying or pledging alligience to the flag in school kind) and a willingness and desire to unite again ("united we stand, divided we fall" anyone?) and work together for the common good (I'm not talking about communism or anything "weird" or "icky" here, I'm talking about looking past the end of your own nose). That's why I could support either McCain or Obama in the White House. It's got absolutely nothing to do with policy (the wrong policy can still wreak havoc, don't get me wrong here), and everything to do with a departure from the kinds of people who can't lead and don't belong in such an important office. Hillary does not belong in the White House, woman or not. In fact, if you want to see women having a chance in the White House, you can't vote for Hillary because she'll ruin any chance for another woman to get there for the next several decades. At least that's my opinion of her, you're free to have your own differing one if you like (for now?).
I forgot the other frightening thing about what I said above. But here's something else to think about. Historically, Democracies have about a 200 year life span. Ours is going on 232 years old which is quite a respectable run when you look at facts. It's not like there's a mainspring somewhere that's unwinding and once the ticker stops, it's done. We can make it last much longer. It's just that historically speaking, we don't stand much of a chance of pulling our collective heads out of our collective butts and actually doing that. Too many people are into breaking things, wrecking things, and being generally negative and destructive people because we've been taught that that's entertaining or fun. Sure, it can be. But there are limits and we're quickly reaching them. There comes a point when everyone is a court jester and there's no king left to rule. Then what? So it's time to buck up and start acting like adults and let's fix this train wreck before it happens. Then we can have some fun again.
I was going to teach you all something else. As far as voting for someone, or otherwise figuring out who to put in charge of something important and not being sure of who's actually the right person to put there. Here is an easy way to figure it out that's pretty reliable. Who are the supporters? If you want to know what kind of person you'd be putting into the White House, just look how their supporters behave. That's exactly the kind of person you'd be putting there. Here's why.
It's in our nature to become like that which we admire. This is something that's very hard to fool if it's even possible at all. It cuts right through the BS and gets straight to the heart of the matter. So what is Hillary really like? Look no futher than her staunchest supporters. What are they like? What are they REALLY like? Politicians don't know this yet, I almost hesitate to tell you this because I don't particularly want them to find out. It'll only make my own life more difficult if they do. Anyway, a politician can present a public face and become whomever he or she needs to become to win your favor. They however cannot control the public face of their supporters. Do you want a genuine person in office? Find someone whose supporters are genuine, and look at the work they actually do with their hands, not the words they say. You can't fake work, work doesn't lie. If someone believes A and not B, they aren't going to spend their time fighting A and doing B.
The second part of the above is this, and it's something powerful to use in your own lives. Do you want to become a better person? There's no secret, there's no trick to it. Admire better people. It's that simple. Not happy with the way you handle difficult people? Start admiring someone who handles them the way you'd like to. I'm not talking about paying lip service to admiring them. I mean actually admire them in your heart. You'll find yourself becoming more like them. Not happy with how motivated you are? Admire someone who has the motivation you'd like to have. Not happy with how you handle finances? Admire someone who's good at it. I bet you didn't know it was that easy did you? Think about it. Think about something you like about yourself. Where did you get it? Most likely it's from someone you admired at one time or another, because it's rare you'll come up with these things totally on your own. Think about something you don't like about yourself. Where did that come from? Most likely it's a negative trait shared by someone or someones whom you admire or have admired in your life. This is why the Bible tells you not to idolize people, because you're going to draw in their bad traits along with the good, and the more people you idolize, the more bad traits there are to draw in. It's simple math.
OK, that's my ramblings for today. Chew it up, think about it. Think about it some more. Think about what you're thinking about. Think about why you're thinking about those things. Think about where those thoughts originated. Think about everything you can, and I'm serious about that. Do it. You might find the results interesting, and at the very least you'll learn something about yourself, or you'll learn that I'm a nut job. But either way, you've gotten something out of it right? And I've charge you nothing. How about that? Spend that extra couple pennies on something worthy and make the economy work again, k?
Maybe next time I'll write more about capitalism and the coming age and revolution (I'm not talking about gun toting shoot 'em up revolution, not even ballot box revolution here so don't you conspiracy theorists go thinking it's "The Day" just yet please. And corporate groupspeak marketroids, I'm not talking about your kind of "revolution" either, but you might like what I have to say anyway actually because it means something new and promising for you to play with, a shiny new toy of sorts).
Why is the economy tanking? Because we think so. It's interesting, the economy works just like we think it does, except it doesn't. It works the way we think it does not because that's the way it works but because we think it does. Weird huh? So when the collective "we" thinks it's tanking, it tanks. And it tanks because of the reasons we collectively think it tanks.
That's what makes this election so important. Well, one of the reasons anyway. Policy doesn't matter. The President can't control the economy, though I'm certain that those who hold the office wish they could. Even the Fed Chief can't control the economy. He can steer it, but it's really an illusion. He can steer it because we believe he can. He tells people something so convoluted that we don't really know just what he told us, but it sounds plausible so we believe it. And it's just enough to make us believe that things will work out in a certain way, and so they do. At least that's the way it worked when Greenspan was the Fed Chief. Now we have Bernanke, he's new and Bush (my not favorite one) appointed him. He kind of had to though because he's the President and he needed to control the economy because he's the President and it looks bad if he can't. And Bernanke is a bright guy and qualified to take the reins from Greenspan. So what choice did Bush have? It was either Bernanke or put some other patsy in that nobody would credibly believe and tank the economy. So we got Bernanke. But he's new and not established and people were afraid of who'd replace Greenspan and if anyone was like me they really didn't look forward to Bush appointing Greenspan's replacement. So Bernanke has kind of a tough job. He has to come in and appear to belong as Greenspan's successor. He has to create a smooth transition from the Greenspan era, he needs to look like he's coming in and not running roughshod over the past few decades that Greenspan has overseen and kept on track quite well.
But he also has to create a new economy out of what Greenspan left, because he isn't Greenspan so Greenspan's economy can't continue. I think we're there right now. Unfortunately for Bernanke, we're also in the midst of a perfect storm, so many different things going haywire at the same moment in history. It destroys the collective "we's" faith in the system that only works because we have faith in it, and when we see these other things going haywire we use it to confirm our fears. So we have a potential collapse of a long-established and factually broken system on our hands, and the only thing of large enough scale to restore our faith in a system and make it work, is an imminent election.
It's not that the election itself will fix anything. It's also not that the new President, whoever that may be, will have anything to do with bringing back the economy. He or she can't, because the President has no control over it. What's important at this stage is that the collective "we" have our faith restored that everything will work out and everything will be ok. That's the only thing that will spur the economy and get things moving again. It's a frightening thought for a few reasons.
One, the saying "pride goeth before a fall." There's been an AWFUL lot of pride goething (my own word invention) for the past several years, and I'm afraid that we will be so self-absorbed in all these ridiculous politics of the past decade or two that we'll lose sight of what's actually necessary and important (not in a words way, in an actual physical real genuine way) and continue voting for politics and politicians. It's not going to take policy to fix what's wrong right now. It's going to take hope and faith and belief (not the right-wing, school shootings happen because we're not praying or pledging alligience to the flag in school kind) and a willingness and desire to unite again ("united we stand, divided we fall" anyone?) and work together for the common good (I'm not talking about communism or anything "weird" or "icky" here, I'm talking about looking past the end of your own nose). That's why I could support either McCain or Obama in the White House. It's got absolutely nothing to do with policy (the wrong policy can still wreak havoc, don't get me wrong here), and everything to do with a departure from the kinds of people who can't lead and don't belong in such an important office. Hillary does not belong in the White House, woman or not. In fact, if you want to see women having a chance in the White House, you can't vote for Hillary because she'll ruin any chance for another woman to get there for the next several decades. At least that's my opinion of her, you're free to have your own differing one if you like (for now?).
I forgot the other frightening thing about what I said above. But here's something else to think about. Historically, Democracies have about a 200 year life span. Ours is going on 232 years old which is quite a respectable run when you look at facts. It's not like there's a mainspring somewhere that's unwinding and once the ticker stops, it's done. We can make it last much longer. It's just that historically speaking, we don't stand much of a chance of pulling our collective heads out of our collective butts and actually doing that. Too many people are into breaking things, wrecking things, and being generally negative and destructive people because we've been taught that that's entertaining or fun. Sure, it can be. But there are limits and we're quickly reaching them. There comes a point when everyone is a court jester and there's no king left to rule. Then what? So it's time to buck up and start acting like adults and let's fix this train wreck before it happens. Then we can have some fun again.
I was going to teach you all something else. As far as voting for someone, or otherwise figuring out who to put in charge of something important and not being sure of who's actually the right person to put there. Here is an easy way to figure it out that's pretty reliable. Who are the supporters? If you want to know what kind of person you'd be putting into the White House, just look how their supporters behave. That's exactly the kind of person you'd be putting there. Here's why.
It's in our nature to become like that which we admire. This is something that's very hard to fool if it's even possible at all. It cuts right through the BS and gets straight to the heart of the matter. So what is Hillary really like? Look no futher than her staunchest supporters. What are they like? What are they REALLY like? Politicians don't know this yet, I almost hesitate to tell you this because I don't particularly want them to find out. It'll only make my own life more difficult if they do. Anyway, a politician can present a public face and become whomever he or she needs to become to win your favor. They however cannot control the public face of their supporters. Do you want a genuine person in office? Find someone whose supporters are genuine, and look at the work they actually do with their hands, not the words they say. You can't fake work, work doesn't lie. If someone believes A and not B, they aren't going to spend their time fighting A and doing B.
The second part of the above is this, and it's something powerful to use in your own lives. Do you want to become a better person? There's no secret, there's no trick to it. Admire better people. It's that simple. Not happy with the way you handle difficult people? Start admiring someone who handles them the way you'd like to. I'm not talking about paying lip service to admiring them. I mean actually admire them in your heart. You'll find yourself becoming more like them. Not happy with how motivated you are? Admire someone who has the motivation you'd like to have. Not happy with how you handle finances? Admire someone who's good at it. I bet you didn't know it was that easy did you? Think about it. Think about something you like about yourself. Where did you get it? Most likely it's from someone you admired at one time or another, because it's rare you'll come up with these things totally on your own. Think about something you don't like about yourself. Where did that come from? Most likely it's a negative trait shared by someone or someones whom you admire or have admired in your life. This is why the Bible tells you not to idolize people, because you're going to draw in their bad traits along with the good, and the more people you idolize, the more bad traits there are to draw in. It's simple math.
OK, that's my ramblings for today. Chew it up, think about it. Think about it some more. Think about what you're thinking about. Think about why you're thinking about those things. Think about where those thoughts originated. Think about everything you can, and I'm serious about that. Do it. You might find the results interesting, and at the very least you'll learn something about yourself, or you'll learn that I'm a nut job. But either way, you've gotten something out of it right? And I've charge you nothing. How about that? Spend that extra couple pennies on something worthy and make the economy work again, k?
Maybe next time I'll write more about capitalism and the coming age and revolution (I'm not talking about gun toting shoot 'em up revolution, not even ballot box revolution here so don't you conspiracy theorists go thinking it's "The Day" just yet please. And corporate groupspeak marketroids, I'm not talking about your kind of "revolution" either, but you might like what I have to say anyway actually because it means something new and promising for you to play with, a shiny new toy of sorts).