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Guest Post: The Bankruptcy Of Corporate America
Submitted by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds
The Bankruptcy of Corporate America
The bankruptcy of Corporate America has seeped into the society and those who toil in its machinery.
Corporate America is profoundly bankrupt. Not in a financial sense, of course; the Federal Reserve's slow destruction of the U.S. dollar has boosted corporate profits most handsomely as the majority of their earnings and profits are obtained overseas; when stated in dollars, those outsized profits swell even higher.
No, the bankruptcy of Corporate America is not found on the bottom line; it is measured by altogether more profound metrics than mere money. Corporate America is bankrupt on levels which are difficult to describe; morally and spiritually bankrupt, not just in the pathologies that guide corporate goals and behaviors, but in the Potemkin shell of free enterprise they present to the world in ceaseless propaganda, and in the manner in which they have cut America loose from their corporate souls.
Corporate America only resides in America because it controls the machinery of governance and regulation here for pathetically modest investments in lobbying and campaign contributions. It would be impossible to replace the global Empire that protects and nurtures it, and so Corporate America maintains its headquarters in America, the better to shape policy and skim gargantuan profits from the Empire and its Central State in Washington.
The return on investment for lobbying and campaign contributions is simply unmatchable anywhere else; it is without doubt the highest return on investment on the planet. And the risk-return is immensely favorable; there is simply no risk that the Empire or the Central State will ever go against the "best interests" of its corporate partners.
Corporate America is not about free enterprise and competition; it's about eliminating competition and forming highly profitable cartels and quasi-monopolies protected by regulations and barriers erected and vigorously maintained by the Central State.
Here are two first-hand reports on Corporate America's pathologically exploitive soul. The first is from inside management, the other is from someone who lost their job inside The Machine and is looking at the well-dressed troops still working inside.
In my spare time I am pursuing the opportunity of being an entrepreneur. Very long, drawn out and hazardous path it is as you know. Meanwhile I am still part of the rat race and can give you a pretty good idea of what's going on out here. I work at one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and I am in management in a department that had sales of 2.3 billion last year. The manufacturing department I am in not only had record sales, we increased productivity by 40% and decreased deviation investigations by 30%. Won't bore you with all the details but we accomplished so much that we were awarded the companies global lean six-sigma award.
Moving forward to today, for all our efforts and accomplishments, we the management received a 2% salary adjustment and a small bonus. Also, we are now being told that we will no longer be paid overtime. This will mean a $10,000 a year pay cut for me, a $30,000 a year pay cut for some of my co-workers. In the effort to increase short-term profits quite a few other horror shows are being rolled out that we must accept or leave.
As you know "leaving" in the current economy is a very hard prospect. Although we are all grown professionals, our morale has been destroyed. Not exactly how you think a company would reward its highest performing department. Basically an overall mood of "who cares" and "what difference does it make" is now the theme of the people I work with. I am so glad I have something else I am working on and have started preparing quite a long time ago for the devolution that is coming.
As an endnote, I just sat through a grueling 1.5 hour "meeting" (job interview) with the new corporate killer they put in charge. Basically I had to genuflect to this person and assure him I am not an obstacle to his insane need for more profitability. Being phony is not my strong suit but I am survivor and I believe I may have bought myself a few more years of servitude.
I know some readers will object to this characterization by saying, "the purpose of corporations is to make a profit for its shareholders." That is true, but the great entrepreneurs don't restrict themselves to such an atrophied view of an enterprise's purpose.
That fact that the "profit is the only thing that counts" value system is so widespread is just more evidence of how deep the rot has eaten into the social and moral fabric of the nation.
Elizabeth S.'s commentary summarizes the experience of someone who lost their position inside Corporate America, and who has a renewed appereciation for her own life and time as a result.
John Greer a.k.a. the Archdruid calls people in my status economic nonpersons. We are on the forefront of the deindustrialization of the planet. I am starting to be OK with that.
Freedom
Since I last wrote, I have acquired another part time job. The other day while getting out of the car I noticed a bus going by. Oddly enough it was the bus I used to take when I had a "real job." The bus was packed with people, so much so that I could see many riders standing up. Two things happened together in my mind when the bus crossed my line of vision. First, I got the eerie, irrepressible feeling that I was seeing the equivalent of the cattle cars the Nazis used to fill for the concentration camps.
The other impression was of what I used to have to do to go to my fancy job in the city- the clothes, the makeup, the bitchy boss. There I was, standing in my old jeans, next to my old car and suddenly feeling incredibly FREE and happy and sane. (I did not feel poor, downtrodden or left out.) I realized I was no longer on a suicide mission called "gainful employment." Now, I do wish sometimes that I had a more secure income future? Of course, but, would I trade that for the mind-blowing, excruciatingly refreshing personal growth curve of the last three years? I have to say, "No."
I was also surprised that I felt no better or worse than the people on the bus either. Actually, I felt genuinely sad for them and strangely glad for myself. I feel that I am a much better person, a stronger and more resourceful person now than the one who last rode that bus going into town.
The Value of My Time
I have stopped thinking about it, the value of my time. This winter I helped my uncle who was recovering from open heart surgery. Besides cleaning and dressing his wounds, taking him to the doc and running errands, I also tore his house apart from one end to the other and cleaned or painted every reachable surface. I also tore out old carpets, etc. I probably spent hundreds of hours on that house. I did not expect payment.
My mother gave me money for food and gas. (My uncle is her brother.) My uncle is a carpenter and he knows what that kind of labor costs. He was appalled that I did so much for him and he could offer nothing in return. It was very hard, very dirty, mind-numbing, exhausting work. But, what kept me going was that it NEEDED to be done by somebody and I was the one available in that moment to do it. So, I did it.
I used to laugh with my husband and mom about much money I would make if I were paid for all the work I did. Then I just forgot about it. I showed up and did the work. Day after day. Oddly enough, my parents got money from somewhere and paid me $1,000 and my uncle decided to make me his heir. So, one day, I may own a house. Who knew that was going to happen?
I am thinking that to say I know the actual value of my time is a kind of arrogance. Perhaps. At least to me. I used to say, "I am worth at least $20.00 an hour. Blahdy, blah, blah." As if I could even know that. Perhaps I am worth a whole lot more. Perhaps the worth of something is just how badly something is needed in any given moment. I don't know, but I am pondering this.
And so might we all.
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The People, by its ignorance and passivity, wills it.
Down with the Bank Cartels, here is my weekly news cast against the cartels, tell me what you think, inspired by the likes of Zero Hedge.
http://www.youtube.com/user/zedgehero
Americans are a bunch of stupid animals easy to manipulate and subdue. These mules clearly fit in one of Leo Strauss' (*) categories of society: the Vulgar Many.
"The vulgar many, are lovers of wealth and pleasure. They are selfish, slothful, and indolent. They can be inspired to rise above their brutish existence only by fear of impending death or catastrophe."
The sooner the US economy collapses the better, thus these subhumans will finally learn not living beyond their means.
(*) German Philosopher / 1899 -1973
The free-range rude...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slsCzAiW7R4
No, the greedy capitalists and their right wing republican cronnies will do anything including sell off America's interests just to make a few more pennies at everyone's expense.
Please note - the poor and middle class are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer with an ever increasing disparity.
We the people are just the patriotic masses to be exploited and sent to wars as cannon fodder
Time to BRING OUT THE CAKE!
Funny that you think there's a difference in someone's actions or motivations because there's either an (R) or (D) after their name on the telescreen. Sad, but funny.
Right. I like how republicans are singled out. Democrat shrill?
I may not like republicans, but I sure as hell don't like democrats.
I don't think pubs have been singled out here. Facts are funny things. Open your eyes. Anytime you hear the word 'bipartisan' watch your wallet.
Any time someone tries to see the world as a Blue-Red fight, walk away and stop wasting your time.
And I was still trying to figure out what a 'cronnie' is... Found it: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Cronnie
bush and obama back to back is the clearest demonstration of this the mind could imagine. indeed it was beyond the imagination of many, mine included.
+
I love it when people bring up the Republican vs. Democrat thing. It's funny to see and even funnier when greed is only portrayed for Republicans. It's like, since Obama says he's a Democrat then he isn't involved. Just that simple relationship makes everything he does ok in ingnorant peoples eyes.
Turn off the TV dude! it doesn't matter if they're R or D, THEY ALL DO IT!!!
JUNKED
greedy capitalists and their right wing republican cronnies
Question for you: what group was the largest contributor to Obama's campaign in 2008? Answer: Corporate America
So either (A) Obama is a right wing republican or (B) you are a mindless tool who can't see beyond the red-blue paradigm fed to you by the MSM.
a and b are far from mutually exclusive.
the cake is a lie.
(everyone knows that)
No, the greedy [unionists] and their [left] wing [democratic] cronnies will do anything including sell off America's interests just to make a few more pennies at everyone's expense.
See, that works BOTH ways.
flag as gem (1)
"Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur."
Latin proverb from William Bonner & Addison Wiggins, Financial Reckoning
The headline should be "The Bankruptcy of Planet Earth"
Communist garbage. Sure, the US might be bankrupt. However, it's bankrupt for purely idiotic reasons. It has nothing to do with your philosophical bent.
Math, that conditions financial transactions and book keeping is a communist and idiotic philosophical bent. If I follow your reasoning...
sure. must be "communist" because is talks about political corruption and corporate graft. can't wait until I can use idiots like you for a fertilizer.
Wake up and smell the corporatist dogma:
evils of collectivism
evils of regulation
evils of taxation
evils of human empathy
basically, anything that reduces profit
evils of competition...
See my below textbook example: Timken.
Well let's see, my choice is between Corporate Masters or Party Apparatchiks.
pull your head out of your ass
If corporations ever obtain the right to kill people, there won't be any distinction.
I believe Xe, Halliburton et al already have that right.
ahem...HMOs
by TheWord Communist garbage ?
I think you should loosen that sphincter muscle wrapped around your neck. Your brain needs some oxygen.
"Corporate America is not about free enterprise and competition; it's about eliminating competition and forming highly profitable cartels and quasi-monopolies protected by regulations and barriers erected and vigorously maintained by the Central State."
No truer words were written.
Corporate America mirrors the Regional Party Bosses controlling the Politburo.
exactly
40+ years of Liberal globalization is communism by other means. Now people throughout the world act as if the CCP is the way to the future.
The battle for freedom is going to be a bloody one.
Lucky for us, retards like you will be in the dustbin of history. Adios fascist fuck.
Lucky for me you are the enemy.
Oh, touche'!
The People, by its ignorance and passivity, wills it.
+1. Nothing more than this ever need be said. In the end, the people get what they allow which is what they deserve.
i have been struggling with this question for a few years now.
do i continue to warn the ignorant who think i am a nut? these are people who work in finance and law, people who should know better.
at this point, i'm inclined to say that i did what i could for them. they will get what is coming.
+ 100
Who is junking this? It is 100% true!
No shit. We need an unjunk button.
The poor are really going to get the shaft when "corporate profits" go down the toilet...SNAP.
We was robbed.
I'll be damned if my life is going to be offered up as collateral to the Kleptocracy. The Chinese are right, the US is already defaulting in slow motion by printing worthless FRNs. The casual observers even know it now.
We are already in WWIII and it's an economic and cyber war. As usual, the financiers and bankers are front and center instigating it.
But well behind the lines with the rest of the pogues!
We will only have WWIII if we don't have the balls to have Revolution II. Milestones
Add government to corporations.
In this job market, you either put in the overtime for free and ignore the malfeasant behavior or you are gone.
They can always hire a peach faced high school/college grad with no kids or health problems who will act like a puppy dog for 10% above minimum wage or 40% below what they were paying you.
Meanwhile, back in the MSM politico-kleptoligarchy machine, missives from the ministry of disinformation will pit the Union bashing entrepreneureal conservatives against the Corporate bashing workaday timecard liberals spittling and cavorting about this candidate or that legislative scrip that will bring back the lollipops and buttered corn on Sunday.
Tear it down, tear it all down.
hit the nail on the head EB! you hit the nail on the Head!
+100
first the peeps go broke, then the corps, then the peeps again.
Chuck, you are a waste of space and virtual ink
Then shouldn't you go back to watching Fox and reading the NYTimes instead of wasting time here?
Well, the author just told us all where to invest. Don't worry about change, 'cause it ain't happinin until peak oil/debt/commodities breaks down the monetary system... still decades away, IMHO -- and before you argue with that I'll just say you don't know when either.
I think Cyberdyne Systems was a high flying stock just before skynet took over.
"The world is flat" manifesto proclaimed that all is good with the corporate world and outsourcing of America was the way to go!!!! How is that working for everyone now!?!?
I've gotta say, I couldn't agree more with the examples of those in the story who have left or are leaving Corporate America. I'm recently unemployed, after a couple years of no raises, lay offs of fellow coworkers, location closings, etc. I have absolutely NO desire to go back into the Corporate game. I'm exploring avenues of entrepreneurship - where I have a little more control over my future. I just don't want to be a contributor to the continued rape of America by the Corporate Plutocracy.
just wait until you figure out the same corporate monopolies make it impossible to run a small business
Undoubtedly, but I'd rather try to fight the Plutocracy/Kleptocracy than support it by continuing to be one of its drones. I may very well fail, but I feel I owe it to myself to give it a shot. At least I'm making an effort to step out of the system rather than allow myself to be a victim of the system.
It is not a good idea to cut off your nose to spite your face. It is ok to be a drone in the system until your plans are in place to go Galt.
Great article....Make the Fortune 500 pay the "War department's" $Trillion Dollar yearly budget. The Military serves one purpose........to keep the world safe for the Fortune 500.......
Here here! Until today, this is/has been the unwritten story of America.
Just look at the algo driven, hired gun HFT lifting stock market magic, which is met with unabashed insider selling, which is met with coincident "corporate stock repurchase plans"...what I call "Operation Insider Billionaire Maker"...or could equally be called "Operation Shareholder Bagholder."
America has left the tracks, and clearly so.
Hat tip, Mr. Smith.
It should be made clear that this includes a lack of loyalty and patriotism.
let's face it, the corps just might be intelligent machines. HK's, terminators, skynet, etc. The similarities are remarkable.
From a purely biological perspective, they are anti-human.
Of course Corporations are not human. The legal fallacy of treating them as persons is the root cause of our predicament.
A corporation is a piece of legal machinery designed for one purpose: profit. It is a robot with one directive: increase money. Unlike the Terminators & SkyNets of fiction, a real-life corporation is not fully automated. A corporation achieves its goal through the actions of humans it controls. Of course these biological components wear out, die off, become redundant, get replaced, or bought out, but the machine itself continues on; Concentrating money by any means necessary. The robot will folllow its prime directive until it is consumed by another corporate entity, itself also concentrating money by any means necessary. "You will be assimilated."
From the CEO to custodian, all human components must serve the profit necessary to the survival of the robot itself or be eliminated. There are no ethics or morals to speak of. Does not compute. You might as well ask an ASIMO to expound upon Kant & Aristotle. Human-made ideals are irrelevant. Serve the prime directive or be replaced by another human component who will do so.
I accept that the continued subservience to these machines represent a threat to humanity. They are Chaplin's Gearworks gone beserk. The Juggernaut of Babylonian legend come to life. And when it destroys lives, communities, and countries, it is most assuredly NOT personal. Just a machine carrying out its function.
well said
Corporate America doesn't cultivate. It exploits.
"when the bus crossed my line of vision. First, I got the eerie, irrepressible feeling that I was seeing the equivalent of the cattle cars the Nazis used to fill for the concentration camps."
Really? Please, i think you are being a little over dramatic. Poor analogy, and a little disrespectful. Anyway....
So if corporate america isnt helping the workers, and share prices have gone nowhere in 10+ years then who/where are the winner? The handful of CEO's i guess?
"So if corporate america isnt helping the workers, and share prices have gone nowhere in 10+ years then who/where are the winner?"
If you have to ask, you're pretty clueless.
You sir, are a fuckwit.
Wow. Amazing comeback....your 'wit' dazzles.
wish I had the reference, but today the top 1% of income earners control 20% of the US wealth, 30+ years ago it was on 9% they controled. With the increase of population considered that is a massive shift.
guess it pays to be one of the 1%! Hahahaha... enjoy the beans and spam
and the point of your post is??? Milestones
Free enterprise is a myth. When will the idiot republican proles understand this?
Looks like both Democrats and Republicans get their money from the same places to me:
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000000085&cycle=2010
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000000090&cycle=2010
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000000071&cycle=2010
...but Democrats win far and away:
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?order=A
Goldman is buying these whores with table scraps.
Forget buying gold and silver, the best ROI in America is buying a politician.
"...but Democrats win far and away:"
Bullshit.
You were doing well before you stepped in it. It only will take a couple of minutes on teh Google to find that the pubs get far and away more corporate and personal cash the the dems.
"pubs get far and away more corporate and personal cash the the dems" -
Where did you find this information? The last link shows for the past two decades, 14 of the top 20 are Democrat, by a large margin.
I think both Party's suck and sold The American People down the river a long time ago. All I was attempting to show was that both Political Party's take money from the same troughs.
14 individuals. Please understand the concept that parties involved. The republic party receives vastly more money. Look it up yourself.
We haven't had anything remotely resembling "free enterprise" in this country in the last 100-years, and certainly not since 1928.
Yes indeed the free market is dead, and has been for years.
+ 1
Free enterprise is a myth. When will the idiot republican proles understand this?
When they give up the prolefeed and start reading ZH.
If Timken (America's only large bearing manufacturer) is still up to its old tricks (crying to the Dept. of Commerce about the big bad foreign manufacturers "dumping" their bearings here into the USA), then they are a perfect example.
They charge too much! And want protection for their high prices.
We buy from Korea. The foreigners treat us (our company in Peru) BETTER!
Bearing, in a vaccuum, you're argument is correct. HOWEVER, pulling at the lobbying string in 2011 is starting in the middle of a tangled mess that was created over 40 years ago by the US government and its collusion with unions and anti-trust legislation. Timken may charge too much because it has a disadvantaged cost structure due to many factors that come from coersive regulations that have been mounted one-on-top-of-another.
That's why this article by chuck is sophmoric. Whip up the idiot masses and point them in the wrong direction. Are there executives in corporations that play games -- absolutely! But the way to fix it is to get competition back in the USA, and that means getting government and unions OUT OF THE WAY
+ $1530
or would that be:
+ 3000 pieces of LM11749/10 ("Timken type" wheel bearing for VW Beetle)
The government and the unions ARE out of the way. Corporate America runs this country; period. Government is a ruse. I liken government to a well paid madam, serving its high paying clients - and we the people are the lowly whores. Corporations don't want competition in the USA. Why in the world do you think they've lobbied for so much deregulation in nearly every sector? Answer: so they can monopolize and control the world economy.
Really? Where do you get this data from?
And, how do you 'lobby for deregulation' unless there was regulation to begin with? And what is the deregulation all about?
Do you understand that given perfect competition that all margins run to zero? That capital seeks and exploits higher margin opportunities? That there can be NO too-big to compete with unless the too-big truly drive down cost structures so that new capital doesn't enter because the risk isn't worth the reward?
Parasitic corporations like GE exist BECAUSE OF GOVERNMENT and UNIONS (the other untouchable, not subject to market rules entity). Get an education in economics then post
Really? Where do you get this data from?
Are you that dense? I'll offer a single example: Glass-Steagall kept commercial and investment banks apart since the Great Depression. It was abolished and we got 'de-regulation' instead. If you will concede that degregulating the banking sector by abolishing Glass-Steagall was a poor idea, we are on the same page. Otherwise, I'm not going to waste time arguing.
Perfect response Weiner. That is exactly where I was about to go. How about Mr. Rubin who lobbied to get rid of Glass Steagall to make the way for the Citicorp-Travelers merger when he was Secretary of the Treasury, then joins Citigroup for a nice salary of $17 million, plus stock options worth over $40 million, immediately after he left his Gov't role. If that isn't a reason to put a pitchfor up his ass, then the shareholders losing 90% during his tenure using his "Guidance" is another. Looks like deregulation was the worst thing that could have happened, unless your name is Robert Rubin as he along with other insiders sold at the high in 2007. WTF????!!!!!
He then moved back to Gov't to join Obama's economic, and the raping continues. This guy is like Darth Vader, filled with the dark side of the force. But the Media is in love with Powerful Evil Men, and that is why guys like this are empowered to shred our economy to bits, stealing millions right in front of our face. The media is not just complicit, they are accomplices to these crimes.
Thank you. Rubin is a monster and a huge reason I left the Dem party. It's 2 sides of the same coin.
Yep, I hear you. There are lot of reasons why I left the Republican party, almost too many to name.
As you say, 2 sides to the same coin. Another crook Greenspan, who cozied up to both sides, and truly demonstrated to us all that this runs so much deeper than party lines.
Really? So, government and the farmers union were really the groups fighting to deregulate GMO crops. No, wait that was Monsanto.
And I remember back in the 90's when the utility workers union was at the forefront of utility deregulation. No wait, I'm wrong again - that too was big business.
Phew, at least sarcasm doesn't require a PhD in economics!
+1
When were the utilities regulated (think 1930s)? By whom (think Roosevelt and his socilaists in the cabinet) Can a 'deregulated' utility charge whatever price it wants (of course it cannot)? Can it open any type of plant it wants -- Nuclear, coal, nattygas, hydro (of course it cannot), can it chart a stable strategy independent of government and union interference -- NO! But, I'm sure you have a point somewhere!
Can you get local phone service, via land lines, from any carrier you want even though they have been 'deregulated"
Why are 'farm subsidies' aroound? When did they start? Why were they started? How much do tax payers pay each year in them? Are there family farms any more? Who encouraged these types of 'cooperatives'? (ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOVE ARE 1930s, Roosevelt the lame, Wallace)
GMO is off topic, don't get the relevance
Capitalism without a set of rules is Calvinball. We need an honest umpire. Sadly, that's not in the cards.
Sophist, You are confusing yourself with the argument that deregulation = fair competition. That is not the case here in America.
Deregulation, in the modern sense, now means Arbitrage, collusion, and yes, naming a price. Why do you think those bankers who made up 25% of the World's wealth met on Jekyll Island back in 1910? It was for deregulation, which opened the gates for collusion in the banking system, and as JP Morgan himself stated, it was about getting rid of the competition between these bankers, so they didn't have to worry about profit margins. Arbitrage entered into the private banking system, allowing for all losses to be carried on the backs of the Taxpayer, and coincedentally, our lovely 1913 congress not only started the Federal Reserve, they also started the US Income tax system, to guarantee the future interest payments to these banks.
Power and Greed can not be self regulated, ever.
"We simply cannot control ourselves" 11/2009 John Mack - Morgan Stanley CEO
So Embicilicus!
The hall is missing an idiot - better run back
DoChenRollingBearing
As an industrial user of roller bearings there is no better quality than Timken. The cost of re and re for a bearing far exceeds the price of the bearing, so it is false economy to buy the cheapest price only.
I don't know your story with Timken, but they, SKF and FAG stand head and shoulders above all other bearing manufacturers.
I know some sweet ass toothpick manufacturers. Hang on, I'll list 'em here, people will want to know...
Kayman, thank you for your comments.
Yes, Timken MAY be the best bearing overall. It has been a long time, but some 15 years ago I read that SKF did a comparative study of tapered roller bearing quality among the major manufacturers re one size of "tapered roller bearing".
Whose bearing lasted the longest? NSK (Japan).
---
You DO raise a very good issue re quality vs. price. Our market is Peru. No way you are going to convince most Peruvian companies that we sell to (automotive bearings are 90% of our sales) that Timken is worth paying 25% more for vs. NSK or Koyo.
And among OUR customer base, NO WAY they will pay twice as much as a Korean bearing, no way.
---
Another good point you raise is INDUSTRIAL bearings. We are weak there. But, we did try (years ago) to sell Japanese bearings to the mines. YES, they only want Timken, SKF and FAG. And NOT from Brazil or China.
---
Kayman! Please send me a gmail at my name! You might like my blog! Read all about our company there in Peru (Ameru Trading del Peru S.A.).
Charles,
Beautifully written.
The moral decay of insatiable corporate greed.
The blind worship of money creates idiots of us all (well at least the top 1%)
Yup, US is bankrupt for idiotic reasons.
Well said.
Meanwhile, speaking to the financial bankruptcy of Wall Street (which never had much in the way of morals or spirit, truth be told) it will be interested to see if TPTB manage to ramp the Dow up over 12K to close-out the week. Sure looks like they're going to give it a try.
The people welcomed and even demanded the total corruption of corporations in the sense that people expect higher profits in the stocks they buy in the companies, not giving a crap about actual ethics or honesty or all that. Just higher earnings, no matter what. The people are just as greedy and morally bankrupt as the biggest crook corporations out there. But watch them suddenly cry for 'righteous justice' when those stocks fall completely apart and theyre all ruined for life. America, the land of wanting it both ways all the time.
True Dog,
But what you call "the people", who I agree are greedy [or shallow, uneducated, and materialistic], what they see are all the most corrupt and immoral people becoming millionaires and billionaires...as "the people" go broke. So you can understand the anger.
In any event, the best way to address the moral rot in all directions...an economic depression. When people find themselves occupied with all sort and manner of things that have very little to do with materialism, or discretionary spending, the cure will be in the hypodermic needle.
And so despite the difficulty directly ahead, as the zombie apocalypse rolls across the entire globe, it must be embraced as an improvement in things. A rejection of the New American Marxist/Banker Party must and shall be painful.
<Cdad sharpening his machete>
I will love to see the ICrapple people when faced with hunter/gatherer times...is there a Iapp for that? :D
There is an app for that - it's called "Manual Labor 1.0". And, no matter how hard they try, I guarantee that none of the iDrones will be capable of making it function. ;)
Once again Cdad nails it. Bravo.
We aren't going to fix any of this. It is gonna blow up in everyone's face worse than 2008.
I realize people get rather upset when they hear the probability that many of their investments, perhaps every asset they own, will become worthless.
There really is nothing left to do now except to sit back and watch the world burn.
Be willing to be the only person who goes risk off while everyone else is risk on. Be willing to go risk on when everyone else is risk off. Wait for the screaming hysteria in either direction. Generally a good sign is lots of ALL CAPS posts on zero hedge and lots of exclamation points.
I only make money when I am lonely and very afraid. I have been very afraid of the stock market running away from me these last six weeks.
So you say to trade and think like a contrarian?
I refuse to gamble in the markets, they are criminal and rigged.
I hold physical gold and silver.
monopoly baseball... way to bring the runners home.
I was in the market the night Paulson et al killed the free market; My wife and I were short with every penny I could gather. We should have awoken $10 Millionaires at least; but alas instead the US Government pulled the plug, shut off the computers and changed the laws. Anyone in the market now is a fool just wanting to make another donation to the thieves in control. The US is not the same country in which we were raised. The free market is dead and so is any upward mobility you think you had. Greed is the law of the land, the people be damned.
+ 100 your comment.
It is VERY HARD to get wealthy in this rigged economy.
Unless you are in the club: "Banksters R Us".
Amigo,
You seem to miss the point--again and again.
The Satanist's plan is to de-industriallize the planet and set it back some 300 years or so for civilization to come back. The Bible tells us those days "will be shortened" but since that's their agenda their effort to de-industriallize (via WWIII) will be all out. That's why I want to have a stash of bearings. In order to thrive we are going to have to live like the Amish, but with some changes/adaptations.
Yahweh Yireh.
In February March and April the consensus was that hyperinflation and resultant collapse was imminent.
I posted repeatedly that bond yields would go down and the deflation monster would come back at the end of qe2.
I collected a lot of junks for that. I also am a keen observer of sentiment, being a professional shrink, and I commented on the slow change in sentiment in May when it began to shift toward a consensus of the deflation monster coming back.
Now the sentiment shift on zero hedge is complete. The consensus is that a deflationary collapse is imminent in the next few months.
Now most of you are wrong again and very late to the party. It will soon be time to go long risk assets again. Possibly August september of october.
It is interesting that gold is now almost serving as a risk on and risk off asset!
topcallingtroll
"being a professional shrink"
With the unstable dynamic balance shored up by the Feds, I have a split personality on the inflation/deflation question.
I know I have increasing cost inflation, but passing higher costs on through price increases is difficult.
Don't know who is going win that battle.
in the same boat.
Said like a professional shrink for sure!
Naturally, being a professional shrink, you're seeing what you want to see. And nobody's checking your professed grip on reality.
There's no such consensus here. The deflation component has naturally come back into the forefront of our concerns, with QE2 ending, but not even a bare majority think this heralds an imminent deflationary collapse. It always could, of course, with a black swan event of some kind, but I think most of us expect reinflation via QE3 and such before what obviously would happen finally does, once the hyperinflationary fires wane.
So now you're the bottomcallingtroll? "Consensus", how sweet!
For every one of these there are 100 who still wish they had their old job and old money. Poverty is never fun. I for one will keep bowing to the master.
"That is true, but the great entrepreneurs don't restrict themselves to such an atrophied view of an enterprise's purpose."
During a grinding, deflationary depression even the "great" entrepreneurs cannot afford to take any other view. Otherwise they're out of business.
The bears have finally arrived. It's going to be a rough afternoon.
All of the bullets have been fired target practicing... now the grizzlies are outside the door, there are no more bullets left.
Don't forget about Silver... currency of the future. Waiting for major correction to load up.
I hear them growling too! They're givin' me a Severe Case of the Shortz! As in, "I'm gonna SHORTZ my pants! I'm hittin' the Kaopectate Hard!
I feel so fortunate I'm here to see the fall! Even if this is just a practice-run... I'm really diggin' it. Unemployed unite... Cases of Cup-o-noodles for EVERYONE! And then Toilet Rum w/ Fresh Backberries out of the patch. Let's Party!
"Corporate America only resides in America because it controls the machinery of governance and regulation here for pathetically modest investments in lobbying and campaign contributions"
Maybe, but the origin of the beast, according to Milton Friedman, was the law that gave the power - through TAX BREAKS - to divert $$$ that would ordinarily go to shareholders to the buildup of internal plant. The Boards of Director became more isolated from shareholders and beholden to the Feds (See recently that Obama wanted to "invest" in "certain favored companies") and you have a recipe for gargantuan growth of Corporate America with virtually no controls. Any "Controls and Regulations" (See esp. Big Pharma) are used to drive out smaller, less capitalized companies.
Too big to fail? Bought and paid for by the US government!!!
CW
In defense of industry it must be stated that Washington DC constantly shakes down industry for money. I have been in a number of situations where Congress Critters ask for contributions to help stop legislation that would severely impact my company. The political critters in DC work among themselves to introduce killer legislation that only lots of money from industry can kill. On the flip side, I've worked with some of the biggest CEOs in the country and they will plainly tell you that the payoff in WDC it 100:1. Various lobbying firms have told me the same thing. Go to DC with $10M and you'll return with a billion. Among the largest lobbyists are Israel and foreign corporations so it isn't just our companies on the rampage against the middle class.
Stuck on Zero is stuck on the truth!
Stuck on Zero is stuck on the truth!
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183983.html
Israel spying on US: A long history.
Israel Bankrupts U.S. Millitary Supply Companies by selling U.S. secrets to the highest bidder!
This guy is good you should see how else our Country is being Bankrupted!
Benjamin Franklin called the Jews "vampires" and warned that they'd destroy the American republic if ever admitted into it. Flagging a warning of this sort as "junk" merely reflects the historically quite recent (decades old) taboo against offending the chosen people. Were our ancestors all evil/crazy, or did they know something which we've forgotten?
While your article is entertaining, it is not wholly acurate in my view. There is MORE to the story. Corporate American does NOT come to the table voluntarily!!! Our congressmen and the FED agencies they create are VERY similar to Al Capone and his thugs. They actually just took over the biz from the gansters, but on a HUGE scale! Industries are FORCED to the table with $$$, period! I KNOW first hand!!! IF you want to hear a real story, and this one was 25 years ago, just let me know. But I'm sure it's MUCH worse today!
bernenke's is worth infinity per nanosecond. bow down to your god.
welcome satan's fiery red carpet.
we are getting it... slowly. but get it we must.
if the Fed Printed $3 trillion in debt.. and printed another $15 Trillion in Loans (this does Not! Include FED Swap Windows for the Euro and TARP / TALF and so fucking on...) over three years..
$18 Trillion divided by 3 years ='s $6 Trillion in New Supply is Printed a Year!
$6 Trillion Dollars divided by 365 days ='s $1,643,835,6164 a Day in in New Supply is Printed a Day!!
$1,643,835,6164 Billion a Day divided by 24 hours in a Day ='s $684,931,506 an hour in New Supply is Printed an Hour!!!
http://goo.gl/FnxBZ Treasury Direct $14 Trillion Debt
http://goo.gl/TMl74 $15 Trillion in Loans
http://goo.gl/EXzal / ='s $29T
Another very nice piece, Charles!
As far as the thesis goes, it's clearly us or them. Skynet and similar forces make for great movies, but it's a much more mundane and insidiously familiar threat we must deal with in reality.
Exterminate the Corporate Person before its too late.
There is no America. America is an illusion.
There is isolated individuals & organizations.
Each in it for themselves only.
Financial collapse, riots & civil war is coming.
Count Down: 12 months.
From the comments I can see that Americans are finally beginning to understand what the rest of the world have been talking about, and dismissed as "Jealousy of our freedoms".
I have family ties in the US, and have met a lot of good people who turned out to be nuts, and bad people who turned out to be smart. It's a country of extremes. But believe me when I tell you that having met many of you, I think most Americans (I exclude NYers and 'Franciscans) are from a different planet: The Planet of the Apes.
When I read about US corporate greed, the love of Aynd Rand who championed selfishness, the support of Israel, espousing mighty is right, the military industrial complex, love of violence and your utter devotion to money, I can only conclude that somehow humanity has regressed in that part of the world and people there are as far removed from me as I am from an ape. In a few years I doubt Americans will even be able to breed true with the humans living outside the self-imposed prison they call, "The Land of the Free".
Joking aside, I don't think there are any fixes for the US. Any country whose moronic population believes, "The Godfather", is a good template for corporate strategies deserves everything they get.
Who is John Galt?
It was wrong of me to kick a country in despair - it's something Americans like to do isn't it? Probably been going to the 'States too many times and it has rubbed off.
What utter, utter shit. You've had one sake too many buddy.
Nothing but the truth as I see it, buddy. There isn't a false sentence in the entire post. Get a sense of humour, or bugger off back where you belong.
You have to realize its just like computer programming, garbage in, garbage out. The vast majority of Americans spend their entire lives being programmed by television. They are literally saturated in it to the point they don't even think about what they see and hear.
They are programmed only to receive, they are not expected to participate, only send tax dollars to Washington. From grade school onward free thought, creativity and imagination is supressed and the only value taught is to conform and don't ask questions. They are taught the system is their friend and they need only join the system to enjoy the wealth and perqs of the best system in the world, since they have no critical thinking skills most swallow hook, line and sinker. Those who criticize or point out the fallacy are labeled malcontents or terrorists.
It is an insane asylum, most are drugged to quiet the internal conflict between what they see in their own lives and jobs, with what they see on satan's dream box, the fantasy world that is always out of reach, but available if they just buy whatever is being sold. A new car, a bigger house, a diamond, a celebrity diet, - the treadmill never ends and the carrot is always out of reach. No wonder most are insane, they are trapped in a consensus reality where insanity has been deemed sanity and those who point out the insanity are marginalized, detached and frequently see no path out but violent eruption against the coworkers or authority figures. Going Postal is the last safety valve of an insane system that offers no alternatives.
A larger number are choosing to walk away from the system, the wholesale rejection of the establishment that occurred in the 60's is likely to happen again as the system fails more and more people. Reject the system before it rejects you.
We must forge our own system or die trapped in the failed one collapsing around us.
+1
Well, as I said it is a country of extremes, and on the edges of the bell curve there are fascinating and enlightened individuals who can teach me a thing or two about critical thinking. Frustrating! But as always a pleasure to be taught a new perspective.
Just returning the favor, a lot of what you pointed out is painfully true. I just wanted to give you a context to understand how it came about and manages to remain so surreal.
If you follow the path backwards, right after WWII the CIA was born, and the shit just kept going downhill from there. I hate to point fingers, but there are an awful lot of footprints on the corpse of America that match the kind of shoes the spy boys love to wear.
Well between the two of you this is like dancing with the stars. Really is funny!! Milestones
Thanks. Coming from someone who knows what "Dancing with the Stars" is like, I take it as the highest compliment.
At the risk of repetition, I agree with your analysis and have posted some of the more obvious "footprints" about the CIA on numerous occasions. Notably the CIA and the drugs trade. The Langley HQ is like a sovereign city state, and although most probably do the job they have been tasked to do, the nature of compartmentalization and secrecy of the organization means that nobody knows what the guy in the next room is doing, let alone the next building. A place ripe for commiting crimes and abuse of power.
It's one of society's oldest conundrums: Qui custodiet ipsos custodes?
Loving this, brilliant summation :-)
The other reason that corporations remain headquartered in the US is that the taxpayers conveniently pay for what amounts to their own private military, which can be sent on missions to protect and/or create profits.
Precise and correct. Well said.
+1
Yep. I posted this link not so long ago:
JP Morgan goes hunting for gold in Afghanistan with it own private army (US Military)
http://ausbullion.blogspot.com/2011/05/jp-morgan-hunting-for-afghanistan-gold.html