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The Flim-Flam Men - With Artwork by Banzai7 Labs
The Flim-Flam Men
By
Cognitive Dissonance
Artwork by WilliamBanzai7
I suspect if average Joe or Jane were asked to identify modern examples of ‘Flim-Flam Men’ most would point to Bernie Madoff and Allen Stanford. Or even to a long list of Too Big To Fail bank CEO’s past and present plus various corporate, government and Fed officials who have graced our lives over the last ten or more years. And you know what? I wouldn’t argue with them for a second because they’d be correct. But do those examples really illustrate the deeper, more mundane meaning of the common street hustle or financial confidence game? And are we in denial of our own critical role in The Big Con?
Madoff and Stanford (and the Fed of course) would fall into the category of ‘The Big Con’ since they successfully roped hundreds, even thousands, of people into their web of deceit. More importantly they fleeced their ‘marks’ for years, decades even, and every single mark was smiling right up until the end. Why? Because everyone thought they were on the inside track to a sweet heart deal that paid better than average returns. In other words, they were ‘chosen’ (usually because of their own self described brilliance) and thus they had a leg up on everyone else. Something for nothing and the chicks were free. That is until reality rushed in to fill the vacuum left when their glorious illusion imploded.
What I wish to explore here is some of the emotional and psychological components of the common confidence game (professional money management subdivision, three-card Monte category) perpetrated on the public by the political and financial ‘industry’ in general and some of our local money managers/financial advisors in particular. It’s one thing to run a onetime financial con on an individual or small group of people and another entirely to do so consistently, ‘professionally’ and as an accepted member of society.
You really can’t fool all the people all the time, regardless of how dumb they may be or how brilliant the con man is. Yet many of us claim precisely this, that we were hoodwinked by Congress, the Fed, corporations and the bankers, all of whom are still busy screwing the fast asleep sheep. While this explanation may please us because it leaves all of us blameless, it simply doesn’t hold water and deep down we know it. Let’s spend a few minutes thinking about this and see what we come up with.
To pull off a financial con of this (global) magnitude many conditions must be met, not the least of which is the common desire of the mark to acquire something the Flim-Flam Man promises s/he can deliver. This of course would be the financial savvy to ply the dark waters of the rigged financial markets using inside info or just a better mouse trap for the benefit of the mark. But the active ingredient in any successful con is the mark’s desire to get an edge up on the herd and make ‘easy money’ or at least to stay even with the rest of the herd in their pursuit of the Promised Land of Milk and Honey.
The thing is that greed works both ways, something I see all the time in my clients. On the one hand, everyone loves to own the high flying stock or the 5 star mutual fund that killed it last year…..both of which will probably disappoint this year. When the champagne’s flowing, everyone wants to join the party and make it big. I can’t tell you how many times during my long career a client has come in waving the latest copy of ‘Money’ or ‘Forbes’ wanting to jump on the latest bandwagon. Pets.com stands out in my memory as a particularly egregious example of herd mentality driven by greed, though it’s most certainly not the only one.
But greed also compels people to become nervous, upset and even angry if they think they’re underperforming the rest of the herd and falling behind. Think of this as reverse greed. If we know or even suspect the next door neighbor or coworker is making more on their investments, regardless of the risk involved, we feel cheated. The golden rule of greed is that there is no such thing as risk until it bites you in the butt, then suddenly you have way too much on your hands. Our greed always tilts the playing field to the advantage of the Flim-Flam Men.
For those who have seen the obscure 1967 movie classic ‘The Flim-Flam Man’, who could forget the performance of George C Scott as the wily Mordecai C. Jones, a rural con man roaming Cape Fear County, North Carolina with a young protégée named Curley. Part comedy, part love story, forever a study in our own self destructive greed, I highly recommend the reader take a walk down memory lane via YouTube where the movie is posted in 10 parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue0vqeQSG5w
Soon after bumping into Curley (who is laying low as an Army deserter) Mordecai Jones begins to school Curley in the way things really work in the big bad world of greed. Asked what he does for a living, Jones explains that “Greed’s my line lad, greed. And 14 carat ignorance, they’ll never let you down.” Thus we begin to understand that the confidence game is very similar to Judo in that you use your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses against him to take what he clearly wants to give you in exchange for even more.
Curley is both fascinated by this strangely attractive character and wary at the same time. He’s heard of men like Jones before so he knows he’d better check to see if his wallet and wrist watch are still in his possession on an hourly basis. But still he’s drawn to the seductive Mordecai Jones and wants to hear more. The number one rule in running the con is to never let the mark think you need him, but rather the other way around. Never let them see you sweat or worry.
Flim-Flam Men (and increasingly today Flim-Flam Women) almost universally exhibit a high energy level along with charisma and disarming charm. Above all else they are easy going and unfailingly happy (at least in public) almost as if they haven’t a worry in the world. They prey on our openness, kindness and our tendency to trust well dressed self confident men and women who appear to have ‘made it’ in what can only be described as celebrity worship junior grade.
Mordecai begins to entice Curley into the life of the con man, carefully explaining that working as a team is much more effective than working alone. We all know that deliciously naughty feeling Curley is beginning to feel as he rationalizes his way into doing something he should not. In an effort to diminish his pangs of guilt, Curley feebly tries to ward Jones off, claiming he won’t get involved in anything dishonest. “I don’t hold with cheating Mr. Jones.”
But of course Jones has rationalized away his antisocial behavior a long time ago and has a ready answer to Curley’s protestation that he would harm no innocents. Mordecai assures him “Only the cheaters Curley, you can’t cheat an honest man”. With just a few words Mordecai has magically transformed himself into a slayer of evil dragons and the local bringer of truth and justice.
We can almost see the gears turning inside Curley’s head as he lies to himself “Well, I guess it’s OK if all we’re doing is cheating the cheaters”. It’s right about here that the brain releases natural endorphins into the blood stream which serves to reinforce our self deception by stimulating our brain’s pleasure centers. Naturally Mordecai Jones isn’t talking about you or me when he identifies the marks as cheaters because we’re honest…..for the most part.
At least that’s what we tell ourselves as we steal the stapler from the office supply closet or fail to inform the cashier when the item rings up $20 lower than it should. After all, what I’m doing is peanuts compared to the stuff those bastards are pulling down. Besides, everyone does it now and then so what’s the big deal? They’ll never miss it anyway. I’m just taking care of my own in this dog eat dog world. The justifications and excuses we use to do as we please are endless and ultimately immaterial.
Who among us hasn’t been offered a great deal on a TV, jewelry or whatever only to find out its ‘hot’, meaning its stolen merchandise? For many of us knowing its stolen actually makes the item that much more attractive, particularly if it’s new. Instantly we think ‘on sale’ at 70% off. Who doesn’t want to make a killing and pick up something of value for a steal? If we really want to look under the covers of our own self deception, all we need do is consider the language we use when discussing this subject.
A little later on in the movie, Curley objects to the method used in a scam Jones just pulled off with Curley’s help. “Diamonds? They’re just glass” he complains to Mordecai, clearly not happy to be involved in such a blatant subterfuge. Jones becomes indignant, claiming the high ground by parsing words. “I never said they wasn’t. Just signified they’s stolen, that’s all. You can sell anything on God’s green earth if the customer believes it’s stolen.” Notice how he sees the mark as a “customer”, making Mordecai just a simple salesman filling a person’s needs and desires, a wonderfully enabling lie that justifies his continuing to con.
We all justify and rationalize away our misdeeds and petty crimes in order to live with ourselves. Aside from the true sociopaths walking among us, the average Flim-Flam Man needs to do so as well. However, once started down this path there really is no crime too big that can’t be explained away. At one point in the movie, Jones pretends to be a “man of the cloth” and talks his way into the home of Curley’s future love interest. They proceed to steal a car with a reluctant Curley forced to choose between going along or staying behind and trying to explain to the authorities what happened.
Remember that Curley is an Army deserter and thus severely compromised, making him just another mark for Mordecai to use. By his own hand Curley is conflicted and vulnerable to exploitation, making it that much easier for Jones to manipulate him since Curley has something even bigger to fear if his complicity in the con is exposed, the very Army brig he was originally running from. That’s all the more reason for Curley to stop resisting (as if he ever really tried to begin with) and just go with the flow and take what he wants anyway. Well…..if you insist.
This is very similar to how we are all compromised by our need to live and work, not to mention maintain what we have already accumulated, within the very corrupt system we essentially allow to be perpetrated and (secretly) hope flourishes. Or should I say our parents allowed to be created because we certainly didn’t have anything to do with it. We are all just victims of circumstances and thereby blameless. It’s them, not me, who are responsible for this mess. Since we allow our own self interest to crowd out everything else of importance and the system encourages our own selfish behavior, who are we to resist or even question what is “natural” or even fair.
After leading the police on a mad automobile chase and thoroughly wrecking the car, Curley confronts Jones as he once again soft peddles the massive damage he’s done to people and property. Curley angrily shouts “What are you talking about? You walk into someone’s house and you steal their car.” Jones plays the wounded soul and immediately seeks the high ground by becoming indignant. “Nonsense, I’m not stealing anything.” Curley snaps back “Then what do you call it?” Jones has the ready answer. “Borrowing, that’s all. Just to get us some place where we can borrow another one.”
I assure you that this type of thinking is shared by some in the financial industry who have little regard for their clients and a very high regard for their life style and the need for a substantial income to maintain it. I can’t tell you how many times during my career, whether it was in the glass towers of big money management or inside the local bank where the financial advisors were running small money, that I’ve heard the so-called professionals speak in the same manner as Mordecai Jones, though with much more polish and a better vocabulary. After all, that’s what the Ivy League criminal finishing schools are for…..right?
Some of these well dressed professional Flim-Flam Men might never have taken this path under different life conditions. For some it was laid out at birth by family, for others it was a career they made a conscious decision to pursue, for still others they stumbled into it and saw the potential for self enrichment. While we can debate the “nature-nurture” argument until we are blue in the face, even though each Flim-Flam Man is uniquely different nearly all arrive at the same destination using similar self-deception and denial techniques. And so do us ‘victims’.
The principal commonality among the thieves is that each and every one of them, again excluding the true sociopaths, has at some point or another (and usually on a continuous basis) excused and explained away their behavior. The more egregious among them are borderline sociopathic, for while they still retain the capacity to care about certain individuals, essentially everyone within striking distance is considered a potential mark.
While on a small local ferry crossing a river, Mordecai tells Curley about his own early moral development. “Well, that’s the whole point Curley. The world is full of them. Ours is an avaricious society.” Curley erupts in protest. “Everybody’s not like that.” Jones rationalizes again, dismissing Curley’s protestation with practiced ease. “Matter of degree. Every thermometer gotta register something.” Since I’m nowhere near as bad as those banking bastards I’m not responsible for any of this mess.
Curley asks about Jones and his early life. “What about you Mordecai?” Mordecai contemplates before answering. “Me? I was idealistic as they come. More so than most. But it didn’t take me long to appreciate what really makes the world go around. And contrary to what the poet says, it ain’t love. And when I learnt that, it done something to me. I commenced to turn inside on myself, sour with resentment. Couldn’t enjoy nothing. Got mean. Terrible thing. Terrible.”
“One day it come to me. If everybody’s so determined to be greedy and to being ignorant, maybe what they need is a little liberalized education. So in order to teach them I qualified myself with an honorary degree. Mordecai Jones, M.B.S., C.S., D.D.” Curley jumps in. “What’s all that mean?” A big self satisfied smile crosses Mordecai’s face as he quickly abandons his self reflection. “Master of Back-Stabbing, Cork-Screwing and Dirty-Dealing. Hahaha. Ours is a society of goods and services and I think I’m performing a service. ‘Cause after meeting up with me….maybe they ain’t so eager for the edge next time. Son, you’d be amazed at the hundreds of satisfied students I’ve matriculated over the last 50 years.”
Mordecai’s monologue almost brought tears to my eyes and I’m not being completely sarcastic. At its basic level all con men and women are actors, telling you and me exactly what we want to hear so we will do exactly what they want us to do. But Mordecai Jones is still a good case study in how a person becomes the distorted and twisted antisocial bastard we all love to hate.
In his monologue Jones claims he really did wish to be a good boy early on. But after being savaged by both his idealistic and sensitive nature and bloodied by the world, he bravely decides to harden his heart and jump onto the gravy train to get all he can while the getting’s good. Rather than do the really difficult work of self reflection and introspection when the world slaps you side the head, the coward’s way out is to join in the rape and pillage. It certainly makes the pain go away for some and helps the pocketbook as well.
Can you say ‘Buy the fucking dip’ right about here? Hey, if you can’t beat them you might as well join them. This applies to non professionals as well folks. Anyone playing in this cesspool of a market can’t claim to be pure of heart and deed including myself. It all comes down to how we rationalize playing the game. Most of us defend our actions as purely defensive. I need to protect myself from those savages. Sounds a little like Mordecai Jones, doesn’t it? After all, we aren’t hurting anyone else except the (other) crooks, liars and thieves, right?
Once again Jones takes the cheaply bought high ‘moral’ ground by claiming he’s doing honest work by wising people up and helping his flock of sheep learn their life lessons. Once we understand what’s going on here we begin to see that Lloyd Blankfein really does believe he’s doing God’s work. Who knew God’s work paid so well? Will someone please inform those priests they’re on the wrong path to salvation? Never underestimate the lengths to which we can and will take our own denial and rationalization when it serves our self interest.
If you listen carefully to Jones and believe in his methods, then having a moral and social conscious is a total disability that should be covered by Social Security. Thankfully all he’s doing is placing a healing hand in each marks pocket and spreading the intellectual wealth his way. Of course, it takes two to tango and the fact that greedy self centered people help Mordecai educate themselves exonerates Jones from direct blame, at least when it comes down to the fact that Jones has already learned his own life lesson perfectly well. Do unto others before they do unto you and live well in the process.
Near the movies climax Curley back slides a bit and begins to question his short life of crime, asking Mordecai where it all leads to and how one can live a life without something to believe in. Curley makes an impassioned plea to Jones, saying in effect that what may work for Mordecai just doesn’t for Curley. In essence he wishes to save his soul from the disease of unbridled greed and self interest.
Curley says it all in just a few sentences. “It’s just that lately I’ve been wondering if there’s such a thing left in this whole world as one plain honest man. I’d of said that I was and I know I ain’t. I’d say most people were honest enough. And every single time you show me what they is really like. Mordecai, I gotta believe in something. Something better than greed.” It sounds like Curley isn’t graduating any time soon from the Mordecai Jones University of Hard Knocks with a PhD in Flim-Flam. And he looked so promising.
Alas we find that poor Mordecai does have a bit of a conscious after all when he worries about Curley........which in the real world is not a liability to a con man as long as they don’t let it run wild. In fact, if the con man lets it peek out a bit now and then it actually helps endear the mark even further to him. This pays off near the end when Curley actually commits a major crime in order to free Mordecai from jail. I suspect Curley was just doing some penance to free himself from his guilt. There’s nothing quite like a little Christian guilt to free us from our Christian guilt.
If you want to know how the movie ends, fire up the YouTube link. If you want to know how our modern day version of the Flim-Flam Men ends, well........that’s gonna be a bit more difficult. There’s no video of the end game as of yet, though I can assure you real time viewing is more exciting. The facts about our present day global confidence game remain too complex to ignore but very easy to deny.
We, you and I and me and us, are all complicit to some degree or another in The Flim-Flam Men’s confidence game. There simply cannot be a con without two opposing but cooperative parties involved. And both sides need to expect to get something out of the deal, regardless of whether it happens or not and despite all the facts not being known by one or more of the parties. While there may be varying degrees to our complicity, just as there are degrees of guilt, responsibility and intent in any other crime, no matter how much we diminish our role we are still involved in our own victimization.
A little over two years ago I spent a Saturday afternoon listening to YouTube interviews and lectures by Catherine Austin Fitts. About half way through one of them Catherine said something that hit me like a ton of bricks. She was describing a talk she had given many years earlier to a group of concerned citizens in which she was trying to explain how intertwined the corruption was within our own individual decisions and lives. She said tough choices needed to be made and until we were ready to do so, we would make little progress towards throwing the bums out.
She then asked for a show of hands among those in attendance. Who wanted the corruption in Washington, on Wall Street and in corporate America to end here and now? Catherine reported that she received a unanimous affirmation to stop the insanity and begin to heal our communities. We all wish to believe there is some button to push or switch to flip that will end this insanity. Believing this allows us to remain on the sidelines and not take a stand.
Catherine then asked for a show of hands of people who were willing to risk the very real possibility that by ending the insanity everyone’s private and government pension, government benefits such as Social Security and Medicare, 401(k), IRA’s and even individual investments might be severely diminished and possibly even completely lost. If I remember correctly, Catherine said just a few people put their hands up. Based upon my personal experience talking to my clients I would say that’s about right.
I just described the confidence game as an agreement between two opposing but cooperative parties who expect to get something out of the deal, regardless of whether it happens or not or if all the details are known by both parties. In her interview, Catherine just described that deal in all its ugly simplicity. We are more than just dependent upon the corruption to maintain our daily lives. You and I are depending upon the corruption to fund our retirement and other self interests. This makes us complicit in the con because our own self interest depends upon and feeds The Big Con.
Our nest eggs, pensions and most of our personal wealth were amassed by way of involvement and cooperation with the con men that both run it and sell it to you and me. And as much as we don’t wish to admit it, we’ve known this for decades and have kept our mouths shut as long as the stock market went up, our IRA’s and 401(k)’s increased in value and our pensions continued to be paid out. Now that the system is coming apart at warp speed, we claim we were bamboozled or fooled. Nope, this little charade doesn’t wash with me.
For the last 20 or 30 years the public has been reading and hearing increasingly dire warnings about fiat currencies, unfunded Social Security, Medicare and government pensions promises, never ending wars of empire and expansion, resource exploitation, corruption and so on. While the entire picture might have been deliberately obscured, it could not have progressed to this point without the mostly silent, but most assuredly the willing, participation of you and me.
To say otherwise just kicks the responsibility can further down the road. Until we the people accept that we are part of the problem, that’s the only thing we’ll be kicking down the road. The Flim-Flam Men will not stop on their own volition. As long as we offer ourselves up as easy and complicit marks, they will continue to rape, rob and steal. It’s time we grew up and recognized that fact.
02-01-2011
Cognitive Dissonance
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I should have said in my above post that one should not set grand expectations for the first country of refuge. Instead of looking to first get a passport for say, England, one should instead focus on some comfortable third world location. Living on $10 a day is 5 times as good as most of the world lives. That's $3,650 dollars a year. Extended visas and/or resident alien status (with potential for eventual citizenship...especially if you make the right contacts) are often available for an expat who would be willing to teach english a few hours a week, for example...or perhaps for someone who can open business channels...(consult your local US Embassy and/or US military base).
You have to be able to give up what binds you to the USA for a different (although arguably a better quality of life) life. I still have property, assets and family in the US but I am no longer chained to them.
I can honestly tell you that I do not miss it. I do not miss Brittany Spears, drug commercials, junk mail, the "news," the facist police state with a sign or a cop everywhere telling me what I can or can not do, or self absorbed rude narcissists who live to either complain or sell you something.
The people I envy are those who own and live on their sailboats. I have friends who have sailed the world on pennies a day...eating fresh seafood daily and trading their catch for fresh produce when docked. Man you want to talk about freedom....no passports needed. When sick (seriously ill), return to your home country for treatment (Medicaid for US citizens). Surely your existing investments and/or work can yield you $3,000 per year to live on...which for many is more than enough.
I'm just trying to get the word out that we are not trapped. I know it hurts to hear this, but those who stay in the US under duress are willing sheeple (or underage, infirm, etc). Even dialysis patients could live in Nogales, Mexico and commute 3 times a week into AZ for treatment.
Gosh I realize how arrogant this post sounds. Please forgive me for that. I'm just trying to convince my beloved fellow Americans that you are NOT stuck in the USA. You have many options and many countries would be happy to have you. If not, then there is always the seas, which for some is more fun anyway.
"In short, the best way to be free is to have multiple passports. This establishes a competition amongst the shepherds for who gets to own you as a sheep."
excellent insight:)... while not entirely cheerful with respect to the whole idea of humans owning themselves, it is a very practical way of using competition aka free market, to at least find a better pasture.
Essentially CD is offering you the philosophical concept that there are no victims.
It does open a can of worms that provides a wonderfully slippery slope to that end for those inclined to take it, imo.
There are always "degrees" of victims in a zero sum system. But, it does not matter really, since there are also victims in any other system that has ever existed. In system "A" they may fuck you for your money because you are not sophisticated enough to prevent it, whereas in system "B" they may imprison you for your views which do not coincide with the powers-that-be. The problem as I see it, is the US is slowly becoming both.
Very well put sir.
I just choose to not invest in anything.
I got a stapler AND a 3-hole punch!
Good read. Thanks.
Office supply jackpot. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime. :>)
Great Read CD with an ever appropriate assortment of visual images from the zenmaster himself, WB7.
A little over 28 yrs ago, I became aware that I had a conscience and I could no longer continue down the path I was on with the impunity that had gotten me that far. It has been a journey of constant vigilence ever since.
Over the last two years, I have been diligent about removing the suction cups of the squid that had enveloped me. What a difficult task to say the least. Credit cards, money market accounts, mortgages, trading accounts with big Chitown brokerages just to reveal a few. I've begun to wind them all down. An enormous task but very doable although with a price I became willing to pay.
I have become very localized in my investing and have found myself becoming the local hayseed who is always on the look out for a deal. I barter, buy all sorts of things from gold to guns to cars, distressed properties, you name it. There is such freedom in becoming free from the ties that so easily binds us to the system. I am very close to having all my debt wound down, I am on a cash only basis for everything I buy. This has some draw backs but the plusses far outweigh the minuses, if you have cash you do the deal, if not you wait for the next deal that you have the cash to consummate.
Freedom today can be attained in spite of the system that tries to trap us. It comes only when you make the decision to escape the depths and peel off the suction cups.
DaddyO
The solution Catherine Austin Fitts promotes is to invest locally. Not by putting your money in a local branch of an international bank or shopping at the local Walmart. But doing exactly as you are doing, spending in local businesses and finding small ways to inject money and faith into those who you live with and within as a community. If you must use a bank, find a local small bank and sit down with the manager or owner. Find out if your money is invested locally and if so, where.
Thank you for making a difference where you live.
I believe you are some sort of broker or financial planner. I wonder what you advise your clients, since (unless you are the boss) you aren't going to generate a lot of commissions if nobody plays the game.
I recall a debate back in an ethics course when I attended a business school everyone loves to hate. South Africa was still under apartheid at the time, and one past and future Wall Streeter stated that he would never work for a firm that did business with the apartheid regime, Sullivan Principles not withstanding. Another student butted in, "would you work for an investment bank that did business with firms who do business in South Africa?"
Incidentally, contrary to popular opinion, not all Ivy Leaguers are soul-less automoton bankstas. While I did my time as a prop trader and fund manager, I will put my public service/charitable record, and some of my classmates, up against anyone on this site. Broad brushes do not paint fine details.
"Ivy League criminal finishing schools"
I have downgraded my professional position three times over the last 20 years each time I could no longer stand the stench from the trenches nor my hypocrisy. The last time was to my own small advisory firm where no one is telling me I must trade a clients account to generate commissions. So at this time my book is generating less than 30% of the commissions the industry considers standard for the amount of assets under management. I am my own boss.
The purpose of the article was to say that we are all in this mess. I wasn't exempting myself at any point. The system is designed to entrap and seduce. We will never make the changes needed unless we first admit our own culpability. As long as we complain about the system, but also declare we can do nothing, nothing will be exactly what we accomplish.
I don't write big checks to charities or perform public service for the red cross or whatever to brush up my resume. I'm a local activist and have been for over 10 years. I work at the ground level spending about 10 hours a week on local projects. I'm the one who attends the county budget meetings, planning commissions, school board meetings etc demanding accountability or pushing local projects rather than big business projects.
It sounds like you were hurt by my article, that it pushed some of your buttons. Instead of fighting anyone on the site why don't you spend some time examining why you were triggered.
The last line of my original post was what triggered me. (By the way, I enjoyed your article, and also loved the movie, having seen it at the drive-in when I was a little kid.) Also, I did not junk you.
Different things trigger me. Once on this site an article was posted that unfairly and without any proof whatsoever disparaged an old friend, now deceased, whom I knew to be a very good man. I took exception.
What triggered me here was the broad brush that is a regular feature amongst those who write and comment on this site. It is both tiring and inaccurate, but I suspect it makes some people feel better about themselves. Not all Ivy Leaguers are without souls, and not all the people who play on this site are noble. Of course if and when the SHTF, I suspect that like happened in Cambodia, guilt by background will be assumed. Sadly, or wisely, I have prepared for that possibility.
It's good that you put in the efforts you do in your community. As for myself, I retired in my 30's, so I don't even keep a resume which I might need to brush up. That dig was a little vindictive. Without going into great detail, I have spent the last decade and a half working full time giving away what I made on Wall Street, and not to any registered charities (because my experience found most to be inefficient at best and fraudulent at worst, though there are a few good ones). I have faced down a host of threats, both human and environmental, many of which I can view as exciting only in retrospect after having survived. I never took nor needed a single donation, as donations bring both expectations and the possible imposition of a belief system that differs not only from mine but from the people with whom I was working. Enough of that.
I was not critical of your article per se, and I am a regular reader of your product. I do take the occasional exception to the broad brush approach to which all of us sometimes fall victim.
You are one who continually reminds us that we should question our belief systems and endeavor to see things openly and honestly. Good advice. So let’s be frank. Folks on this site heap endless scorn on to Wall Street, the bankers, the Fed and Treasury. Much is deserved, and I do my share. At the same time, almost as much praise is heaped on to the operators of this site as is heaped on a dictator’s butt ugly daughter. I praise the site myself, as it is entertaining, informative and provides, in my mind, a useful public service. I wish it continued success. At the same time, we all know, though rarely say, that someone closely associated with this site was found guilty of a crime---not stealing from the rich to give to the poor---but of insider trading, where the score amounted to dinner for two in NYC. Is banker criminality not so bad if someone is not very good at it? Is Stevie Cohen a bad guy simply because he might well be very very good at it? (I have no idea one way or the other how the man operates, so I imply nothing.) Then consider that if the individual had not been caught, would he still be on the Street? If so, would he be operating morally? None of us knows, and it is not my place to judge, nor name names. We're all playing this game for the first and only time...well, except for the Buddhists.
So let’s be consistent. I remember an exchange back in '08 where some comments called for imprisoning or executing all the bankers. It was Marla who chimed in and reminded that people are innocent until proven guilty (though without investigations of apparent wrongdoing we'll never know). That includes Ivy Leaguers, ex-traders, and financial planners.
chindit,
clearly, it takes way too much energy to sift into the grey of real life, so must folks simply don't bother. wtiness any core republicrat, crip, or blood, etc.
lotsa perfectly good babies have gone out with that bath water. sadly, proximity to the fire does leave the lingering odor of smoke.
i'm actually surprised that this (or most anything) hit a nerve with you (one of my continued favorite contributors here). i can only guess it's because you respect the opinions of the accused (CD) and hoped for better.
FWIW, my knowledge of the truth you describe is beyond intellectual. in any population over the famed 31 sample-size, there are percentages of good and bad. good prisoners, bad priests, etc.
your good-will and walk/talk are noted and appreciated. ditto for CD for the time and effort invested.
This little side track has been interesting, however the premise of the movie and this article by CD, in my view was to cause introspection and to expose the conflicts internally. It appears CD was spot on based on the comments thus far.
To often on this site, when someone's "buttons" get pushed, they resort to name calling and blame placing to keep themselves from looking inside. To look inside requires the rarest form of strength and moral fortitude. I speak from experience as one who has been clean and sober for almost 30 years. I found relief from a pernicious malady through a 12 step program that requires personl honesty and moral inventorying to find inner contentment and serenity. It has been a way of life for all these years.
If this article causes even a few readers to delve into the black hole of personal reflection and moral searching then every word was worth the effort, IMHO.
DaddyO
Good for you on the 12 step success.
I believe you missed my point, which had nothing to do with the article per se, but rather to a particular line (which may well have been a joke) disparaging all who attended Ivy League universities.
Nobody needs to tell me to be reflective so that I can come around to their point of view, and I will not tell anyone to reflect so that they come to my point of view. Similarly, I will not tell anyone to reflect on why they really might have it in for a particular set of universities.
Unlike those who are quick to condemn anyone and everyone associated with certain schools, I actually attended so have a more immediate and thorough idea of what goes on in them. In addition, attending Harvard does not automatically make a person turn off his conscience or pass into a world of perpetual denial. Eyes remain open. In fact, if one hasn't thought through his views and ideas, he'll have his lunch eaten in classroom debate. As I noted in another response here, the range of views in university was considerably wider than what passes for the Zeitgeist on this site here.
Personally, I am not a big fan of continual navel gazing, because in my opinion it tends to make the practitioner increasingly self-absorbed and more likely than not to fall down a dark hole. Your own mileage may vary. Instead, I believe that by adulthood most thinking people should have already developed a moral compass and a reasonable sense of self so that they automatically understand where they are going and why. Of course an entire industry, and even an entire city (New York City, Angst Capital of the World), are geared toward convincing people otherwise. To each his own.
Finally, if I may toss in a little philosophy, forget yourself and worry about others' well-being and what you can do to improve it. If you do, you'll suddenly see all of your own worries and concerns disappear. Trite, but true.
Compared to my past trading floor tantrums, where coffee cups and waste cans existed in a state seemingly outside the gravitational pull of the Earth, or to quote that WWI anonymous pilot “slip the surly bonds of Earth and touch the face of God”, I'm a rather even-tempered sort today. On occasion, however, I feel a compulsion to speak up, sometimes in response to a generalization, other times in response to something I know to be patently false. I suspect CD was merely making a joke, but having seen that same sentiment noted countless times on this site, I was in the mood to address it. And thanks for the kind words.
Coincidently I was directed to this today: http://www.cnbc.com/id/41354100
There is also an editorial in The Atlantic about why Wall Street prefers Ivy Leaguers. The premise is not that they need geniuses. They need a particular type to bond and push paper to the same social milieu.
If I were an alumnis of Harvard I would be telling them, you want my money, start focusing on the world beyond Wall Street.
I know lots of good people from the finance business. Like it or not, their profession now carries the stigma of being associated with the modern day the den of thieves. This is why all decent people who worked on the street should be incensed by the situation.
A whole lot of what Wall Street is today can be described as a den of thieves. Also, it's overly pampered, TARP and all of the other alphabet soup of gift-giving being the most obvious example. I don't deny that, and I am as adamant about reigning in its excesses as anyone. We used to own our losses. I was never under the impression that I was adding any great value to the world, but precious few working people can claim that their work adds anything more than increased choices (this car, that toothpaste). That's just life. As CD pointed out in his original response to me, the contribution one makes to society need not necessarily come through one's job. For me, it was a means to an end. I had a goal, reached it, and walked away to do what I really wanted to do. That first step out the door was not easy. I can only add that one never knows how they might react under similar circumstances unless it is an actual, rather than a hypothetical choice. Money is both alluring and habit forming, unless one is just a little bit odd. Fortunately, I am.
Incidentally, lots of traders are not Ivy League, and most banks and HF's look merely for that silly but rare skill known as trading ability. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, that ability is ninety-nine percent discipline and the other half is luck.
As for the Ivy League itself, it is/was by no means monolithic. There are trust fund kids and legacies to be sure, but there were---both in undergrad and in business school---a lot of people like me who had paid their entire way through school. The debates, both classroom and dorm, had a range even wider than what we see here today on Zerohedge (think Ramsey Clark vs. G Gordon Liddy, Bill Moyers vs. Sean Hannity, Mako vs. Harry Wanger). It was vibrant, and it demanded that everyone question his beliefs. The range of held beliefs was just as wide at graduation as it was on day one. I'm sure others on this site would agree.
I remember the good old days. Back then all the best humor came from the traders. it was a very street smart New York industry. Now its just spoiled smart ass.
CD...my mortgage is held by a small, regional bank, and they still hold the paper. Of course, I do not consider my house an investment, but a place to live. Most of my life I have been forced to rent or live in company-provided housing, so I have a weird kind of transient attitude to housing. If I decide to sell the house, and lose money, no problem, since I never considered the possibility of making money on it.
It is easy to make the small ethical compromises and then as these become routine to start making bigger compromises for expediency, a desire for social approval, avoid making waves, etc. And if one is not careful all of a sudden what one considered routine and uneventful results in a felony charge. I have seen several people on my career who arent professional sociopaths but more like every day people end up like that because small compromises lead to bigger compromises later. It would be good for us to once a year go through a day taking stock of our ethical lapses and.discussing them anonymously. We might be shocked at how much we deceive ourselves about our innocence and the purity of our motivations. Such a once a year ritual might keep more of us from going further down the wrong path. It would at least give us a sense of humility and of our human frailness and we would all be better for it.
Early in my career once a month as part of my management duties I taught a two day ethics course for each incoming representative mass hiring. Each morning before we started the class and at the end of each day I always said the same thing.
You must start out each day with the decision to make ethical and fair decisions in all your customer and business dealings. Most importantly, you must verbalize this promise out loud even if you are alone. Some how it becomes more real when said out loud, almost as if it is witnessed when spoken, then if it's repeated in the silence of your deceptive mind.
Without the daily positive affirmation to be ethical, it's so easy to back slide into excuses and justifications to be unethical.
I had a guy from Smith Barney/Citi calling me regularly before I pulled out. He was a regular NY guy and I liked him. But the pressure on those people to peddle bull shit is amazing. He kept trying to get me to buy some structured "principal protected product" and I just told him, look when you can explain this to me so it makes intuitive sense maybe I will consider. But he couldn't do it, because what they had him selling, made no sense intuitively.
You can't have it both ways.
There is always an upside and a steeper downside and only a flim flam man can nail the sale.
WB7, I had Smith Barney - later Citi - as a broker for years before I fired them in 2009. From 2001 to 2009 I kept them as a secondary broker SPECIFICALLY for the objective of doing the opposite of what my broker recommended, and generally staying out the sector of any stock they recommended. My relationship with them was a comedy clown show. My worst loss with my SB/Shitibank broker(s) was MCI Worldcom. After that, I just did the opposite of what they were pitching. In 2009 I just got sick of my broker calling me on an almost daily basis pitching bags of shit. I warned him that if he didn't stop calling for the purpose of pitching me that he would lose me as a client, but I guess his management gave him different orders. I truly believe this firm should be investigated for deliberately defrauding their clients in order to profit for themselves. Oh wait....that's what everybody else on Wall Street is doing so it must be legal, right?
Bullshit pipeline is a very apt description of Sanford Weills dream.
Any guy who regularly calls me before I pull out definitely gets his number blocked...
Hulk,
I think you're not only on a different page or even book but possibly a different universe. But after re-reading Banzai7's post I can definitely understand where you got lost. Next time take a left at the dog star. :>)
CD man, I just went nuts when I couldn't find flim-flam man on nutflix. Bastards!
Well written and thought out article, as usual CD!
I wonder why?
It's a hard movie to find. But even though the quality isn't the best, you can watch it in 10 parts on YouTube for free.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue0vqeQSG5w
Thank you for the compliment. One of the reasons I don't write many articles is because I spend a great deal of time on each one making sure my thought process, logic and flow makes sense. I can't stand reading something that makes logical leaps of faith or contradicts itself or runs up dead ends, then magically materializes somewhere else.
I have nearly a dozen articles in various stages of completion that I work as I am inspired. In fact I have three that are complete but I have decided to re-write them because my perspective has changed somewhat over the last few weeks. I refuse to rush anything simply because I want something out there. No article before it's time. :>)
As I read the article, it was quite apparent how carefully written it was... On a separate subject, in response to an article you wrote a while back, I took a lone motorcycle ride on America's blue highways (motivated by the book "blue highways") and it was the best time of my life.Traveled coast to coast and back. Thinking became real clear as the miles wore on. Met very interesting people too...Highly recommend doing that to everyone, or even a mini version
I've been riding motorcycles and dirt bikes since I was 6 so it's been 50 plus years for me. In that time I've taken several east-west-east trips from coast to coast, and even more south-north-south trips, each time sticking to the smaller roads and byways. Scenic byways are our friend.
But the most memorable time I ever had traveling was on a 10 speed bicycle trip through New England and New York state over the summer of 74. The most amazing time of my life. I was connected to nature, sleeping outside at night and living on a few dollars a day.
But the people were amazing. When you are on the road with your bike, you are not threatening. It's not like you will steal someone's TV and strap it to the saddlebags and sleeping bag. So people are open and curious and the hospitality flows. The stories that I wrote down in my diary are still amazing all these decades later.
Now that I've found my writing voice, I've made a commitment to turn that diary into a book.......someday.
Very nice. Highly recommend you read:
http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Highways-Journey-into-America/dp/0316353299/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1/188-0325489-0292231
I know you will treasure it...
Beautiful work!!!!
once, i had an epiphany.
i told my gf about it (it was during that "grace period" b4 the gf realizes that ALL men are doggs).
moi: i SAW that our beatiful planet is our universe's answer to, "What to do with the Criminally Insane?"
gf: sounds like you were in the Garden of Weeden at the time, slewie!
That's the best 'Splain that Lucy I ever read.
Better late than never Bonzai.....Welcome to the party.
I figured this out (as did many others) and we financially capitalized on it in hideous ways since 2003. Retired in 09. Forever. Retired my children and their children also. Im sure they will be rich losers like most other wealthy offspring have been in the past throughout history. I dont care, they dont have to spend the money they get. I'll bet they spend it just fine. Its easier that way.
Do I feel shame or sadness towards my fellow man? Absolutely not. I used to, not anymore, they got what they deserved, next time they'll pay more attention and determine what is and what isnt important in their lives. Am I proud of myself? Fuck YES I am. I joined a very small club and I am a nice guy. Spare me thre bullshit moral arguments too...sniff, sniff, boo hoo.... Fuck em and TAKE what they dont care about. They will practically GIVE it to you
Have a nice day.
FLIM is MILF spelled backwards
i'm not sure why i'm laughing so hard at that... classic. most observant.
best one since evian <=> naive
cheers. (and tnx CD & WB7)
I think there is something to be learned from that observation. Where is my MILF file...
Then more in your line of definition there was Hollywood's "The Sting" : classic movie with PN and RR.
...and now you know why vampires can not see themselves in the mirror...
well done CD & WB7
And yet Flim-Flam (wo)men look just like you and me. You know, normal.
Awesome!
First case I acted in, way back in the early nineties, was a marketing guy for what was then a big fund manger. The firm doesn't exist anymore, bought and sold I don't know how many times since. He was an up only kind of guy. Even when it was going down. Turned out the firm's advertising that he approved was misleading to the upside. He lost his license and the firm got some nugatory fine that seemed like a big deal at the time. The thing is, I knew he was a BS merchant, but by the time I'd finished proofing him I was motivated to start saving and investing. Next case I worked on was pensions mis-selling. The firm in question had undoubtedly been telling lies to its customers and after much negotiation and posturing they got hit with a suitably insignificant fine. The pensioners had to eat their losses. Once again I spent hundreds of hours proofing the senior guys for their testimony. I knew they were maybe flim-flam men, and I guess they did too. But what stuck in my mind was the way they pitched the product. They said the government will never pay you a pension. No matter what they promise, or what they take from you now, they will never never never pay out. Your role is to pay but not receive. So you need to buy [xyz]. Well, I knew [xyz] was the wrong product, but the rationale sounded right and I was already motivated to invest.
Nowadays its a rare day that I don't make more from my trading in a day than I make from my law practice, so I guess I owe a thankyou to those sell side flim-flam men who started my education.
Thanks guys for the motivation, the scare and the promise of riches to get me going, but I'm still not about to buy from you.
Been a great past several days for sleazy Southern movies - a whole night of Flannery O'Connor Georgia dysfunctionality last week followed up by its Mississippi counterpart with "Baby Doll" on last night, all on TMC, uncut.
Best flim-flam team in Hollywood history was laurel and hardy.