Guest Post: How Can Everyone Be So Incompetent?

Submited by Miles Kendig

How Can Everyone Be So Incompetent?

For those of you that don’t know me, let me introduce myself

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naQO14SnbUc

I am what many here (most especially myself) and elsewhere love to make fun of.  I am a true blue Digital Dickweed.  A Digital Dickweed has been defined by others as someone that is genuinely unemployed, in my case a government pensioner, errr, freeloader (100% disabled veteran), non high school graduate who lives in the basement of their parents home (or the spare bedroom of a family member’s home in my case) blogging.  In essence, the old war veteran that sits on his front porch and watches the world go by, aka JAFO (Just Another Fucking Observer).  So, let’s take a look see at the talk from off South Main Street.

Welcome to Fight Club! 

To the question of the day…

Sitting here on my front porch here off S. Main this is the question that seems to be on everyone’s mind.  It doesn’t matter where in society folks reside.  Be it on a trading desk, some cube on some floor in some city, an eighteen wheeler rolling down the highway, on a tractor, a ranch, cop shop, university, construction site, senior citizen center or deployed military unit.  This topic of conversation remains like a stubborn hangover that no amount of aspirin and water, or even a fresh buzz can assuage.  

It doesn’t seem to matter where we look, nothing seems to be working like it’s supposed to.  Or even as come to be expected shabbily passable, piss ya the fuck off whateverable.  Nothing.  It has been and continues to be one epic shit storm of seeming total and complete incompetency.  Wherever we look this epic failure or worse, deliberate stupidity stares back at us with that gloriously adolescent air of fuckyou’dness in full bloom.  And what just about everyone seems to agree on is that nowhere does this fuckyou’dness seem to more prevalent than with government or major enterprises of all stripes.  At least until the b.o.s.s. stops watching …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xNnRBksvOU

I am sure Leo Strauss and others would hope the spear chuckers were watching Gunsmoke, while believing M. Kurtzmann’s off watching Perry Mason.  As we’ve come to appreciate off S. Main, it’s just too damn bad that over time there is always slippage … In reality Kurtzmann (who actually represents the FED – SEC – CFTC – FDIC – OTS – COTC – FBI – Congress – Courts - whatever administration is in power and all the rest) is off streaming porn from behind that frosted glass.  At least until it is his/her turn to rotate back out to private enterprise from the privation of public service where she/he can get that crap live and on her/his deductable corporate entertainment account.

That account, and Kurtzmann’s proclivities are being back stopped by who exactly?  The buyer of last resort!!  And that buyer is us, via the fed!!  The same schleps that paid for his/her porn streaming in the name of the public interest so the big payday upon returning to the street would be realized.  And looking up the food chain, most decision makers are absolutely loving how this is an awesome What What situation for ‘em and acting as if the rest of us will/should feel the same way they do.  Clueless bitches and bastards, as there are always limits, conditions & consequences, appreciated or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbGkxcY7YFU

I suspect that good ole Rick Santelli and those intrepid folks dreaming of trading the THC within the CME missed it with their tea bags.  What is realized here off S. Main is that what we have here is a genuine, certified, 100% bona fide CondomNation.  A place where we are getting forcibly fucked by a bunch of STD/blood borne disease ridden bitches & bastards that refuse to glove up or give any disclosure since to do so would “undermine confidence”.  That is as if that confidence crap couldn’t get pounded any harder than it already has been.  Even those hopelessly co-dependent folks at the TBTF’s and those addicted to the TBTF’s dog food are left to say; “Honey, don’t forget the lube this time ..  Please”.  Damn, I have to remember that these folks are in the addiction business.  So wondering why these heroin/dog food/HOPIUM peddlers would want to extend and pretend their game should come as no surprise.

 

 
Everywhere the mounting failures of one system after another are stacking up while the expectations of these dope peddling adolescents keep gaining in absurdity.  Here is a quick sampling of our troubled teen’s activities.

• The ongoing mortgage/legal system nightmare that is chalk full of Prima Facie evidence of systemic manipulation.  Manipulation that neither could nor would have taken place without a multiple sovereign buyer of last resort in either an implicit or explicit role that was also a willing co-dependent and co-conspirator of their sugar daddy’s activities.
• The AIG back fill fiasco that goes hand in hand with many senior tranche holders that have yet to appreciate there aren’t enough taxpayer pockets, let alone treasure contained within them to make their claims against suffering the potential of loses associated with speculation money good.  We’ll see if it’s Ireland, or some other place name that firmly and irrevocably imprints this reality on the seniors specifically and the broad public and its policy makers generally.
• The need for authorities to imply blanket immunity for key personnel and organizations in the private & public sectors as determined by perceived national security imperatives.  Read keep the mushrooms in the dark, tied and gagged so we can pound ‘em some more.  I have often called this pile of crap a policy of “Judicial Exclusion”.  And going hand in hand with this blanket immunity we find the power of an exemption of SEC reporting requirements for publically traded companies that requires nothing more than a confidential memo.   http://jonathanturley.org/2008/07/21/obama-adviser-cass-sunstein-rejects... http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/may2006/nf20060523_2210.htm?...
• The way trillions are being printed up and passed to the TBTF’s and other key sectors of “private” enterprise and the impact these actions are having upon the relationship between the public & private sectors and what used to be known as markets specifically and international relations generally.  Especially how the dynamics within politics & economics become ever more centralized in the vain hope of containing this rolling crap storm while clearly demonstrating the willingness to sacrifice the dynamics of price discovery and financial alchemy in the process.  The ultimate sacrificing of micro imperatives to meet macro centric, hopium induced illusory targets premised upon misrepresentations, lies, deceit and outright federally sponsored or enabled systemic violations of law, rule and regulation.  The essence of subverting the rule of law and the true foundations of our past economic order.  

Heck, just look to the situation in Belgium for a small snap shot that’s in the news.  One of the primary stumbling blocks in the way of resolving the creep of micro imperatives asserting themselves is how to account and apportion the (public sector) debts, both on and off balance sheet!!  Like this debt situation is going to improve any time soon and the major cross border institutions are all presumed to be in great shape.  Just ask the ECB by looking at the recent round of stress testing, European style.  Stress testing that did such a marvelous job of assessing the Irish banking sector.  I can’t help but laugh at this tragic comedy as I didn’t think anyone could make this shit up.  At least not until there had been sufficient opportunity to observe it in real time.  The real deal is that placing any industrialized nation under direct or indirect observation will yield copious amounts of tragic comedy all on its own far in excess of traditional norms.   

However, lost in the background amid the hubbub of the day remains the underlying core cross border economic issues that were and are being impacted by the lack of political & economic continuity in Belgium and elsewhere.  Of course folks want and/or need more economic and political incontinence.  Especially since a bigger pile of incontinence induced crap would greatly aid many by adding another heapin’ helpin’ of uncertainty onto the collective plates.  Plates already loaded down with the shit being served up courtesy of the master chefs at Chez Shalom.  This against a backdrop where variations of the micro v macro imperative themes are getting played out in Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Greece, Hungary, Portugal, France, hell, all over Europe.  The kicker is that all one needs to do is look at FX land to understand that there are issues of significance all over the globe.

In all fairness I am going to provide a bit of my own sense of equal time doctrine to my good friends and distinguished acolytes of macro economic centricism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0Lg_ISGGW4

One thing remains throughout most all of these epic failures and that is the thread of the major cross border financial institutions and their impact upon the whole.  After all, we keep hearing and seeing Schulden Macht Frei everywhere we go, most especially from the central bankers and government officials.

What more and more of my visitors are reflecting is that the epic incompetency we witness is there because it is supposed to be.  Heck, these systems are designed to work this way or we wouldn’t be where we are.  My daddy always used to say there is nothing worse than a soup sandwich.  That is until we seen that shit soup sandwich from Chefs Ben & Janet at Chez Shalom.  And nothing is as nasty up as that pile of crap.

So, the answer to today’s question seems to be that we are not all incompetent, our social systems and those who govern them are.  We’ve just been put onto a friendly little Bataan walk reenactment designed to move us to the landfill along with everyone else on that long ride to the promised land of resettlement and the cleansing showers of liquidity extraction.  Of course we are being told to be patient as officials need a little time for sufficient growth to establish itself to turn US GDP into a 25T monster by the end of the decade so policy makers can make and pass sufficient water for the showers.  We can clearly see the macro centrists are along for the ride even though they are beyond fully engaged desperately trying to maintain.  Like an old family that has lost its money and folks are learning they cannot pay their bills any longer without clipping the coin.  Except that this is not an isolated condition now, but a pervasive cancer throughout human society since the joys of fraud based macro centricism have been globalized. 

A passerby recently noted that globalization is just another term that describes complex financial systems dependent upon fraud to sustain them.  This is accomplished while vastly increasing the fragility of financial infrastructure specifically and broad social systems generally.  And it really doesn’t matter who is centric, Anglo-Saxon finance or otherwise since it is the dominance of the macro, at the express impairment of micro imperatives that seem to topical.  All I can is wow.  So much for decades of conditioning as the centrists mow have even bigger fish to fry.

Regardless, it looks like TPTB went and killed the goose that laid the golden eggs.  Phucknuts!  Now their only focus is to disengage the sorting machines so we can have unlimited debt today, tomorrow, hell keep it rolling forever since the prospect of suffering a loss is unpalatable to those that have real needs to be pleased.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU7nG3KvZDA

Just like the old Soviet Union, a macro centrist focus leads to the system lying to itself so that all data sets are compromised leading to compromised decision cycles that cannot be addressed without calling into question the orthodoxy that gave rise to them.  Lovely!

Closing Call from a Digital Dickweed
A quick recap of my calls with any changes noted
(Since this is a finance blog)

NOTE:  Nice chance to take a note and see who fares better, this DD or Dennis the Menace, aka Beaker over time.  That is IF Dennis has the stones to post his.

1.    I expect 15-20% of QE2 will be placed firmly beyond the 10yr (and yes I’ll say it, there will be a QE2X that will support CRE/CMBS, bank paper, MBS and all the rest of that rat trap on a drip, drip the dope via IV over time)

2.    That the fed will be compelled to provide “significant” QE2X to MBS/CMBS and CRE generally.  A Bazooka Hank ball park would be around 3T evenly split to start (that’s on top of QE2) – Perhaps a post November intra-meeting announcement, but more likely in Q1 for a 2 year run rate “dependent on market conditions “ ostensibly to stabilize foreclosure gate and related issues

3.    That the 35% limit on fed holding will go right out the window when it needs to.  (As the payday check cashing churn hits high gear)  This may well have the overall effect of pushing the average maturity further out as the Treasury issues and the fed purchases will overwhelm the structure as we have known it.  In the short end there will be greater pressure on compression as the fed moves to overwhelm traditional short end consumers.  While I suspect ever greater quantities of product in the +10 end will skew what have become familiar metrics to an even greater degree while providing the fed with extra years to play with until it can make its purchases by the century block

4.    That the yield curve is gonna make Tibet look like Kansas for a while.  Have been saying since the March of ’09 and again more recently when the 10yr hit 4.1 that it would break below 2 before it passed 5 and that still holds.  But, once this low yield environment breaks ( and I think it hold for a while) I suspect we’ll see rates snap in opposite like a spring released from compression proving too difficult for the fed to manage during transition

5.    My call in the summer of ’09 was for rotating legs on the stool in FX land.  That is changing to a frothy bubbleiciousness in capital flows to emerging markets due to US monetary and governing action that will only exacerbate FX, equity, debt and other geopolitical issues in emerging markets/regions

6.    The CPF index (Chinese Pig Farmer – A basket of the favorite holdings of this intrepid class of investors) will continue to display attributes of bubbleiciousness, with some great churn potential as long as the fed’s policies remain in place, re: #5.  The day will come, rather soon I suspect when the fed will be forced to move to “stabilize” the CPF as it follows Buzz Lightyear and the CME to infinity and beyond.  I also suspect that there may be a change in CPF domestic weighting away from RRE into their favorite metals generally and ag in a more limited way. 

7.    That Mr. Market has a buyer of last resort in its pocket so it is time to party!!   (FX excluded for many.  Tough shit for those attempting to move this space for more than a few milliseconds with less than 500bn US to spend – at least,  measured in the metrics of this moment)

Cheers from off South Main Street

Comments

[Gloomy]

Bubbling Walter Molano Oct 18, 2010 1:06PM

With the two-year anniversary of the Lehman collapse moving into the background, policymakers are coming to grips with the reality that the measures taken during the past two years amounted to nothing more than an enormous transfer of wealth to the financial sector. However, the fundamental economic problems persist across most of the developed world, and there is not much more that can be done other than to embark on a lengthy period of gradual restructuring, depreciation and deflation. In other words, the medium to long-term outlook for the core developed economies is extremely weak. The question is whether the developing world can successfully decouple? So far, they navigated the crisis with flying colors. Most emerging countries had floating exchange rate regimes and high levels of international reserves that could absorb the shocks that were emanating from the U.S. and Europe. Many of the emerging market countries had current surpluses that reduced their vulnerability to the financial turmoil. However, the massive re-allocation of capital into the developing world is creating bubble-like conditions that could put the emerging markets at risk.

The recent economic data confirmed what most Americans already knew, that the economy was extremely weak. Non-farm payrolls dropped by 95,000 in September, as state governments were forced to trim back their work force in order to meet budgetary requirements. The decline in property prices and tax receipts devastated many municipalities and states. The low level of domestic demand across the U.S. was also highlighted by the drop in the inflation rate. Although the Federal Reserve was targeting an inflation rate of 1.7% to 2%, consumer prices rose by only 1% through August. Given the Fed’s legislated mandate of maintaining price stability and full employment, it had no other recourse but to shift to a policy of quantitative easing. The Federal Reserve is expected to purchase up to $2 trillion of additional securities, which is one of the reasons why the dollar is plummeting. However, few of these funds will find their way back into the economy. Consumers are in the midst of deleveraging, and they don’t want to take on additional debt. Consumer credit in the U.S., for example, dropped $3.3 billion during August as households pared back their credit card balances. Likewise, banks are holding back on issuing new mortgages. With foreclosures on hold, due to serious problems with documentation and the securitization market stalled indefinitely, banks are not going to be pushing the additional funds from the Fed into the domestic retail market. Unfortunately, the picture in Europe is not much better. Social tensions are climbing, as governments are forced to retrench. Labor unrest across France, Spain, Portugal and Greece are becoming commonplace. There was a great deal of anger in Ireland after the government was forced to bail out Anglo Irish Bank. The U.K. is also bracing for a new era of austerity, as it slashes government expenditures. All of this points to a weaker outlook for the eurozone. Therefore, with the U.S. and Europe representing almost half of the world’s output, it is hard to be optimistic about the road that lies ahead.

Interestingly, the atmosphere across the emerging markets is quite different. Latin America is expected to grow 5.8% y/y in 2010. Asia will expand 8.7% y/y, and the Eurasian economies will grow 4.5% y/y. A quick taxi drive through any emerging market city will show a forest of construction sites, fleets of new cars and hordes of shoppers exiting luxury stores. As a result, inflation is on the rise throughout much of the developing world, forcing central banks to tighten monetary policy. Higher interest rates, along with the re-allocation of capital into the emerging markets, are forcing currencies to appreciate, which in turn is triggering a loss of competitiveness. According to the Big Mac index, calculated by The Economist, the currencies of Chile, Peru and Uruguay are approaching parity with the dollar. The Turkish lira is slightly overvalued to the dollar, and the Colombian peso and Brazilian real are among the most expensive currencies in the world. This is why many current account deficits are starting to explode. Unfortunately, most policymakers are nonplussed. Many are starting to believe the BRIC rhetoric and relaxing the prudence that guided their way for the better part of the last decade. Banks and financial companies are easing their lending requirements, often providing better terms than those found in parts of Europe and the U.S. The result is that the emerging market countries are developing the same symptoms that brought down much of the Western World. A new bubble is taking shape, and it will not be pretty when it explodes.

[HungrySeagull]

I hate it when they use the word "Pared Back" House Hold Debt like Credit Cards.

We nuked ours and use credit as a weapon to secure goods and it is paid off within hours online. They will have to start charging us interest by the hour instead of old fashioned compounding by the day.

Zero debt, as fast as we can get there. Take down one, move on to the next.

When you can say you owe no one anything except what is normal consumption for a month to the household (Nat gas, electric etc etc) then you are the one who is in position to be PLANNING your future money use, not the fossilized money planners who sit in faraway places who knows not a damn thing about YOU, ME or anyone else living on actual income from whatever source.

Disclaimer, I have a spouse who is also service connected. With the very fine hospital taking care of her, we have no complaints.

[Miles Kendig]

Great night table reading.  Please keep at it

[Herd Redirectio...]

Schulden macht frei!  Awesome!   That sums it up.

I have recently become involved with a new project, named PsychoNews: 

http://bit.ly/aPAuzS

The aim is to stand on the shoulders of the giants here at ZeroHedge, and provide additional commentary, but specifically addressed at the psychos in high-profile positions, or with tremendous wealth/influence.  I think the concept will be a crucial one to bringing this charade to an end.

The responsible individuals need to be identified and singled out.

[Escapeclaws]

Great idea. I hope your site gains traction. Anyone who has been a victim of a psychopath will recognize the items on your list of their characteritics:

• Lack of Remorse, as well as Empathy
• Cunning/Manipulative
• Pathological Lying
• Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
• Not afraid of consequences
• Taking great pride in getting away with crimes

It is certainly true that psychopathic domination is favored in the present situation. This is like the rise of the fascist dictators of the '30s. The question is, what kind of society or environment discourages or impedes psychopaths from gaining power.

Psychopaths or sociopaths gain power through constant brainwashing. Once this brainwashing occurs, it is extremely difficult to undo it. It takes a huge effort and a lot of suffering and self-doubt. Thus, I would think we will have to go through the same process as a society. The process starts when one begins to realize that the psychopaths claims of superiority do not add up. Cognitive dissonance begins to take hold of the psyche of the victim. Doubting commences. This, and the unavoidable attendant mental suffering lead to breaking with the psychopath. However, this period is extremely dangerous for the victim because the psychopath is sensitive to these changes in the victim and may decide to kill the victim (a cold realization made without remorse or second guessing, except for the possibility of getting caught).

This could be the issue of our age, as it was in the thirties--just like Stalin was the issue for the Russians during his reign. In a certain sense, we should forget about economics and finance and think deeply about this one issue. It is that important!

PSYCHOPATHS RUIN LIVES

[Ricky Bobby]

+10 Profound statement. Let's boil it down to the battle between Good and Evil. It may be a cliche` but I think the way things are going we all may get the chance to experience this struggle up close and personal.

PSYCHOPATHS - Put a stake in their heart

[wisefool]

+1

It seems that the only thing people in america pay attention to is "psychology". It permeates all of our college curriculums and our media.

Since the financial crisis, we now know that the world of finance and government is not based on any academic concepts (I am looking at you krugman) So lets drop the ivory tower, corner office, and marble facade immunity/defense/mass media glamor and actually start applying psychology to the powerful people in this world.

I'd love to see candidates and executives  submitted to psych analyses and have that made  available just like their tax returns and insider trading record.

I mean we've trained everyone in psych. (instead of math, sciences, engineering, medicine) We evaluate school kids, talk show guests and celebrities more than we we do our leaders.

Brilliant idea!

[Miles Kendig]

+!

[Uncle Remus]

The responsible individuals need to be identified and singled out.

And. And...

Anyone.

Bueller.

[putbuyer]

So many people I talk to.  So confused. what are you talking about. Completely unaware. Soon. How did this happen?

[blindfaith]

You hit the mark.

It makes me want to cry.  I mean really cry.  I too am surrounded by the brainwashed who don't get or don't want to get what has happened and where we are headed.  I am told to "lighten up".

The successful brainwashing of Americans is near complete.  Toys, give them toys...ipads, Iphones, violent video games, takling heads on giant life like TV's.  Supply them with anything but "homework"  Homework, God how the kids hate homework.

You try to give friends a glimpse into the horror taking place and they stare at you like a cow chewing it's cud...blinking, and wondering when I will politely shut up so they can call their friend and tell them what they are looking at on the grocery shelves or the color of the bricks in the sidewalk, or some other worthless bit of information.

Sorry lot we have become.  Willingly we march off to slavery.  Just can't be bothered, to much to spen a hour of precious time to understand.

And, to the Vet who wrote this 'sock-it-to-um' slap to the face...keep it up.  And, YOU deserve every benefit you can get, YOU earn it (unlike the thieves who are stealing it from America).

[Miles Kendig]

We got so busy we thought we could subcontract our role in self government.

[chopper read]

We’ve just been put onto a friendly little Bataan walk reenactment designed to move us to the landfill along with everyone else on that long ride to the promised land of resettlement and the cleansing showers of liquidity extraction.

classic.

central money planners have an Asian Tiger by the tail.  its going to get wild out there.   

[Janice]

Miles,

In response to your question of the day, I have some thoughts.  I once read an email that stated that all of our issues and/or problems are a direct result of 527 people.  I'm not sure that I have the number right, but the email was referring to the number of elected officials that we have in the US Congress (House of Representatives and Senate). 

Did you know that the number one reason for divorce is financial?  Isn't it odd that through years of monetary manipulation, real earnings are less now than they were in the '70s.  I bet the divorce rate is higher as well.  Our children run wild in the streets because they only have one parent or both parents are working or both parents are tired from working.  People do not understand why they can't get ahead.

How many decades have we, the people, been bitching about the borders, with no political solution is sight?  I don't know about you, but we have been overrun with people who do not speak English and will not assimilate into our community.

In Florida, our elected officials have sold us down the river.  We had several town hall meetings with our Representative Allen Boyd about ObamaCare.  He promised that he wouldn't vote for it, but when he got to Washington, he signed his name on the line.

We bitched about NAFTA, and now we all eat fruit from god knows where.  We bitched about the deficit 15 years ago.  It's a problem again?

I've talked to local elected officials, they act as though we waste their precious time.  They continue to advocate giving tax money to the not-for-profits and arts, while our roads have potholes and we have no sidewalks to walk on.

I think what you have is a realization the people have no control over their lives anymore.  They can't work hard enough to make ends meet, the government either ships their job overseas or lets illegals take their jobs away.  When people complain, it does no good.  When we vote, we get the same old dog, different day.  I believe that people have given up and no longer give a shit, thus the incompetence.  They may not understand all the reasons, and may not even be able to formulate the questions, but they are beat down....as am I.

We are owned by corporate government.

The only people who are to blame are those who make and/or refuse to make the decisions.

Rant off.

[Al Gorerhythm]

"We are owned by corporate government". It has always been so.

Make a stand for your country and freedom before it's too late.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8h_v_our_Q

[wowser22]

It is too late.

[kaiserhoff]

Thanks for the rant.  I used to believe that the truth would set us free.  I'm coming around to the position that "understanding is the booby prize."

Real work is now demeaned and demeaning.  It was not always so, but it won't be easy to get out of this.  Stay strong.

[Miles Kendig]

Rant all yawanna, or at least while ya still can.

Welcome to fight club, twice more.

And I would submit that we aren't owned by corporate government unless we choose to be.  Fact remains that our government is owned, and not by us.  So rant some more pal.  They're great!

[grid-b-gone]

Along with CRE and REITS, don't be surprised if the GM IPO doesn't get a good dose of Ben's goose juice. The expected mid-Nov timing is in line with the QE announcement and supports the administration's two'fer goal of boasting that nearly 100% of TARP has been paid back.

As a general statement, squirts of QE2 will land on the same squeeky wheels as were greased during round one because the same effective lobbies are still in force.  

[Miles Kendig]

GMAC & Cerberus have already got .. what .. 10bn, 15bn of ben's juice so far?  What's a little more to insure the "investment"?

Some JMK'ers are trying to say the fed has no authority to make direct purchases of this nature.  Fact remains that others do and the fed has never been reluctant to avail itself of whatever means may be at its disposal to meet its objectives.  Especially if there is a stated national security implication.

And everyone knows that as GM goes, so goes America.  GM said so in the 1950's so it must be true.

[Coldfire]

Don't attribute to incompetence what can be explained by conspiracy. People are capable of more than you imagine.

[Miles Kendig]

I am Miles Kendig and have written about it.  Have you?  Wanna play some hopscotch?

[Treason Season]

Sorry Miles off topic but Huffington Post has a blood boiling report on the big banks buying delinquent tax bils from municipalities then piling on legal fees to foreclose.

http://huffpostfund.org/stories/2010/10/new-tax-man-big-banks-and-hedge-...

[agrotera]

Thank you for this article...i hope it get's plenty of attention here on ZH and everywhere else.  Primary dealers and their affiliate hedge funds borrowing for 0.25% to load up on tax leans to take the gold from the heartland---more than enough to sicken my soul....there is no end to the evil of the blackholebank evil enabled by our legislators.

[groucho_marxist]

thanks for posting the link

Yet more evidence that the goal is to take as many properties as possible when the securitization process fails. I wonder how much fraud will come to light with this new scheme? I have a feeling the goal is not to resolve the tax lein, but to make as many new synthetic investables as possible, and when those fail, cry systemic risk and demand bailout.

And they take the properties too. Win-Win for the banks!

[Miles Kendig]

Good stuff is just that. No need to apologize for showing us the way to gettin' some of it

[agrotera]

South Main eh Miles?  Good thing you know how to take care of yourself!!!

[Miles Kendig]

I have had some marvelous teachers agrotera  ;)

[TuesdayBen]

I've an idea as to why so much is so effed up.

People needlessly pursue lifestyles riddled with complexity.

Simplify.

Chuck it.  Cut the cable.  Move to the small town?  Take every single item in your home that you do not use and put it at the curb. And then next month do it again.  Vote for smaller gubmint.  Yank the wires off your home.  And the old antenna.  Cut all services you can do yourself.  Do it yourself, keep contractors out of your home if at all possible.  Kill weak friendships.  Eat simple foods, learn to cook more and enjoy it.  Drive a useful truck.  Eliminate any account you can.  Avoid opening accounts.  Avoid Facebook.  Don't text.  Don't let the bastards force you to recycle like a good drone, toss the bins.  Pick your fights, but when you fight, fight hard.  Consolidate if possible, such as checking, savings, IRA, brokerage and mortgages all at ETrade.  Screw healthclub, do yoga in basement.  Use free, simple Craigslist.

[AUD]

If you've still got your arms and hands you could get yourself a guitar, tune it to G & play slide like Bob Brozman. D is also a good tuning since you can keep a train rolling.

Best thing to do when sitting on your porch.

[Miles Kendig]

Greetings from the 'ississ'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd60nI4sa9A

[vainamoinen]

incompetence:

had a small disagreement with the IRS - nothing major - submitted my substantiating documentation as required.

Several months later I get a check from the Treasury for several hundred dollars.

The next week I get a letter from the IRS stating they have received my documentation and are reviewing my case.

The next week i get a letter that says they have found in my favor abd that I will receive a check for the disputed amount.

WTF?

On the ground here:

1. Pig farmer next door is now telling me about the FEMA camp thay are building under the Denver airport and about foreign troops on US soil armed with AK-47's.

2. Burt retired 6 months ago and never cared about politics or voting and is now sending e-mails saying we need a revolution and how they buried some real estate tax in the Healthcare Bill.

3. Business associate in Florida says his house is worth 1/3 of what he payed for it - is considering walking on the mortgage.

4. I hear out of state relatives who got into small time real estate development are having financial difficulties.

5. Brother's construction company which once did $150 million gross per year has 1 job going. His kid - who bought the house with his new wife on the $8,000 govt con is about to be laid off.

6. Some of the neighbors kids, having graduated from college, are back at home with no job, or worse yet, bought small starter homes locally - with no financial future.

7. Co-workers kid who graduated from a state university with a business degree 2 years ago is driving a sheet metal delivery truck for minimum wage. Tried hard to find an entry level business type job - none available. Due to be laid off due to lack of work.

8. My company in death spiral - no work in several divisions - but service dept may survive. Lots of emotional eruptions every day.

9. the wife, so stressed from work, called last week to ask what kind of car she drove - she couldn't find it in the lot - - - - finally did.

10. Don't have time to go into detail on how the failure of the large wholesale credit unions 2 weeks ago affected my local CU - but I interviewed the CEO and got what I needed to know - no I don't keep much $ in any CU or bank.

I could go on and on and on. It's almost daily now that new normal makes itself known in my life. Kinda startin to suck - - - -

Thanks for the piece Miles.

[Herd Redirectio...]

You know how they had a deck of cards when they went into Iraq?  Thats what is needed domestically.  To get people familiar with the faces of those responsible for the mess.  The oligarchy must be outed, and their track record publicized.

On that note, I have become involved with a new site named PsychoNews (yes, I am pimping it a lot) http://bitly.aPAuzS  that aims to work towards that very goal.  All support, esp. member contribution is welcome.

[trav7777]

you do that and they will make a whole deck of cards just with your face on all of them

[Calmyourself]

Thank you for the report.  I was under the mistaken impression my company was recession proof or at least highly resistant it has turned out to be neither.  Where in the country generally are you located?  I reside in the  upper Midwest

[Miles Kendig]

I could go on and on and on. It's almost daily now that new normal makes itself known in my life. Kinda startin to suck - - -

Thank you for the great look see.  When I read the article posted by El-Erian at PIMCO discussing the new normal and bemoaning the loss of "relationship" back in '08 I couldn't help but to think that the tsunami we had been seeing on the flats in Cali for years had finally washed up through the canyons & hills.  That was the moment I realized that we were all on the same road to the same destination.

[minus dog]

"It doesn’t seem to matter where we look, nothing seems to be working like it’s supposed to. "

Holy shit.  Welcome to my decade in hell, nice to meet you.  You must be new here.

I remember reading an old post-apocalyptic story by Keith Laumer, where the end came about due to a creeping, all-consuming ignorance.  People simply didn't understand what made the world work, stupid decisions were made, and everything came crashing down.  Retarded man-children bumbling through the ruins and all.

I thought the premise seemed pretty stupid at the time.  Now it seems prescient.

"So, the answer to today’s question seems to be that we are not all incompetent, our social systems and those who govern them are."

Not all, but most. 

[drwells]

I'm about halfway through "Atlas Shrugged" right now. The chapter "Account Overdrawn" nailed it. Ms. Rand knew where just the end would come from and what it would look like.

[trav7777]

I see this all the time in various organizations.  There is systemic incompetence.  The truth is not the object of the organization; it has its own goals.

Eventually, the "answer" is a Strong Man who kills dissenters.  The Strong Men who make right choices survive; those who don't, end up in Berlin eating cyanide and bullets for a last meal.

I mean, look at the USA and its delusions.  We value things which have no value because we insist that they do.  Some of the policies which are accepted as gospel are patently idiotic.  Nobody at any level will stand up for the truth.  Try it at a public school...neither the teachers, nor VP, nor Principal will defend the policies they enforce.  Neither would the school board.  Yet the system continues to grind with them.

[Miles Kendig]

Agreed that a generalization is by definition prejudgmental.

[No More Bubbles]

Until this farce is shut down and all participants are just "cashed out" (in worthless money) - the stupid game will continue.....

[ebworthen]

Well done.

Yes, a creeping darkness, a feeling that what you thought would always be there won't be.

[Tic tock]

Humanity: Compassion, Morals, Wisdom - these are the lynchpins of power. Devoid of these things, only chaos is created.

..and like it or not, the recent destruction of the dollar leaves a sustantial part of global wealth gone, which has implications for the demand curve going forward.

But I do think the author's analysis may be too complicated- I think the last month has seen a handful of primary dealers simply try to rig the market, to either pull cash in, squeeze positions out..take money from the markets..rather than any clear structural policy.

Govt. finances only work one way- cause inflation- so the PDs' took the money and played the game (though it's left hand and right hand). The thrust of the author's argument is clear enough, why can't a government, with unlimited legal power, fix this? ..we all nknow how financial incentive subtly affects our own decision-making. - You can't make the right decision if you hold a financial incentive in the matter, it's really that simple.

But US politics is finished, and the dollar, the reserve currency, has no standing, financial markets are, in effect, indifferent to the dollar. The dollar is creating the inflation trade, but no-one really believes the French people are going to let the govt.-bank debt be socialized down a one-way street: there is a chance that the strikes are a bluff, but who's going to call it? -funny how there's leadership for those calls. 

[THE DORK OF CORK]

We are at the edge of something very very big.

Can you feel its presence.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYKyt3C0oT4 

[Miles Kendig]

Are you a sum, partial or otherwise of what you feel coming, arriving, has been, is?  Love how physics interacts

[THE DORK OF CORK]

double post 

[Josephine29]

Thanks for your thoughts  Miles and I cannot disagree with very much, things are in a mess. There is a similarity with Europe which has problems but politicians and officials fantasise them away. For example Greece's problems will be dealt with by extending the aid package because things are going so well....

According to notayesmanseconomics.

"So if you factor the problems with tax collection with the way it appears that Greece has improved expenditure by not paying the bills you get a completely different picture for Greece’s fiscal situation, from that given by her government. By the time that Eurostat issues its report on Friday it will be plain to everyone that at the end of the current aid package Greece will be even more insolvent than it appeared as recently as May 2010."

http://notayesmanseconomics.wordpress.com

[primefool]

Tempting as it is to sit in the basement ( finished), a nice single malt on hand and blog about the decay of society - it is worth remembering that if you get heart palpitations and call 911 ( or whatever it is these days) - an ambulance will show up at 2 in the morning - and you will get taken to some hospital where some guy ( smelling vaguely of curry)who's been working 15 hours straight will attend to your heart problem ( why does he do it?).
Somewhere out there there are also folks working hard to master the incredible complexities of modern science to enable you to enjoy modern civilization - it does'nt all happen automatically you know.( why do they do it? - and have to fork over 50% of their hard earned money to the govt?)
In fact - when that minority of hard working, smart folks cease to exist - your neighborhood will look - like - well lets see - have you ever taken a vacation to those nice tropical islands . Notice how in the midst of spectacular scenery - the natives are all basically dirt poor and living essentially stone age lives? ya man - groovy.

[trav7777]

we're in the business of electing and promoting those natives because we value diversity more than oxygen

[MachoMan]

Just returned from my honeymoon in one of those magical island places.  I thought it was interesting that they tell you never to leave any valuables in your car because the rental car is easy to spot.  You know why?  Because it's the only vehicle on the road that's been manufactured within ten years of the present year...

[Miles Kendig]

I thought most of industrialized society still lived stone aged lives ..  just with a Cuisinart and granite counter top to put it on.  The imperatives of predation remain regardless.

[prophet]

Right up until the point someone does something hugely incompetent and everyone else rallies together to mitigate the effects.  This has the effect of lowering the responder's relative incompetence and increases confidence in their incompetence.  These fat tail events stemming from hugely incompetent actions serve a purpose and occur more frequently due to the evolution of incompetence.

As to the question of the day the answer on my road (not a street) is "Everyone is an Idiot". 

- profd

[Miles Kendig]

Welcome to the human condition. 

[nedwardkelly]

He lost me at "err freeloader, 100% disabled". I hope he's not just a 'freeloader' because he's 'disabled'. Looking at this post the guy is capable of a great many things, apparently he's a long way from 100% disabled.

Yes our social systems are incompetent, just look at all the people that are still perfectly able to contribute to society but instead are supported on 'permanent disability'.

[Attitude_Check]

I don't know the guy's status, but 100% disabled could be no-legs in a wheel-chair, incontinent, on permanent pain meds.  That would still allow him to observe and write this missive.  I would call that 100% disabled, and one of the few correct and proper expenditures by the country for services rendered.

Is he able to contribute to society - potentially yes.  is he capable of "getting a job" even in a good economy - probably not.  Is he in that situation as a direct result of what his country asked of him - yes he is.  Do we "owe" permanent disability to him and folks like him - yes we do.

[Miles Kendig]

wow.  Thank you.  I am still looking, endlessly, for ways to contribute.  I must say it is tough watching others arrive at the land fill to join me looking for that freshing shower .. only to get pissed on some more.  It's time for some reverse osmosis

[Cognitive Dissonance]

How Can Everyone Be So Incompetent?

They can't. But it's a comforting story we tell ourselves as we hide from the boogieman. Every time I see a comment or article bemoaning the stupidity or foolishness of this or that player, patsy or pimp I want to puke.

Is there incompetency? Of course there is. Is it systemic? Not a chance. Are the people at or near the top fools, fanatics or fascists? While the percentage of each component in the mix might vary, it's very clearly leaning towards fascist. We just lack the courage to admit we were hijacked many many years ago in a bloodless coup.

[Bob]

+100

[trav7777]

All you can ever see is sinister conspiracy involving 1000s or 10s of 1000s.

Look, you need to be brighter than this.

YES, they are FOOLS, FANATICS, and FASCISTS.  You don't understand HOW delusional powerful people can be, do you?

Right up to the END, Hitler believed the War could be won...watch the scene in Downfall!  He blamed everyone else!  When we reading the history books see very EASILY that it was over with by 1943 for him.  He and his leadership DELUSIONALLY persisted in belief in a particular course of action.  This is why they tried to assassinate him for god's sake.

And this shit happens HERE, look at Busch or Obamma or Raygun...any of them.  The TOP is an echo chamber that is unimaginable.  You don't get promoted speaking Truth to Power, bud.  You get there by kissing asses and going with the flow.

The incompetence is SYSTEMIC.  I have friends who are in these sorts of circles and who say curious things like "truth is not the objective of the system."  The people at the top are FOOLS.

Dick Flud, Tangelo, ANY of them...the Congress.  Listen to them speak.  They clearly EARNESTLY believe the utter bullshit that they say.  The entire American Narrative is a self-delusion, the zionist myths are among the worst narrative self-delusions and are almost thoroughly shared by an entire ethnic group all over the world.  Examples of willful denial, delusion, self-dishonesty, echo chamberism, and systemic incompetence ABOUND, whereas sinister megaconspiracies do not.

[RockyRacoon]

I have no quibble with your comment.  The scary part is that these are smart people, and smart people doing the wrong things can do much more damage than idiots doing the wrong thing.

[honestann]

To be sure, when elitist and wannabe elitists say, "truth is not the objective of the system", they are being 100% honest (for that brief moment).

They are talking about their system, not ours.

For practical purposes, there are only two systems:

predator

... and ...

producer

The predator gets the goods he needs to survive and prosper by taking it from others, by force or by fraud.

The producer creates the goods he needs to survive and prosper by taking actions that re-arrange the raw materials of the universe into forms that support and enhance life.

For most of history, the world was populated almost entirely of predators.  Their numbers were limited because the quantity of goods were limited to naturally occurring processes (rainfall, winds blowing seeds, animal reproduction, etc).

This changed in fits and starts after the discovery of agriculture, then massively after the discovery of sciences and engineering that support industrial processes.  The quantity of goods that could be produced exploded as these processes were applied, and populations grew to consume those goods.

Today, the world is again totally controlled by predators, with the predators-that-be on top of the pyramid of predatory behavior.

But predatory behavior is destructive behavior.  The formerly somewhat civilized/productive world is increasingly headed down the tubes because the predator class has grown exponentially, as has their influence, their power, and therefore the destruction they cause.  The destruction by predators now exceeds the combined production of all producers, so human life is headed down the toilet, back to its predatory practices, unless the predators-that-be are eliminated.

Make no mistake, this is a battle to the death.  The predators will never willingly change behavior.  Unfortunately, too many producers change theirs as they learn the secrets of predators, starting with the fundamental key to their success:

destruction is inherently and metaphysically far more powerful than production.

How much time, effort, talent and resources does it take to build a house?  How much time, effort, talent and resources does it take to destroy that house?  Correct: five minutes and $5 worth of matches and gasoline will do the trick of destruction nicely.

This is so powerful that the mere worry (or threat) of destructive activity is sufficient to convince producers to hand over 1/2 to 7/8 or more of their time, effort, talent and resources to predators.  This is variously called "protection money", or "taxes", etc.

The superior power of destruction is quite valid and evident in the intellectual realm too.  To spread around carefully crafted lies and propaganda confuses honest folks just enough to stop them from objecting, or taking up arms against the predators.  In effect, it destroys the effectiveness of honest thought and potentially productive or defensive intellect.

The story of mankind: predator versus producer.

[Miles Kendig]

Do you have a question that you would like answered by the good folks off south main?  Please call direct, call collect, just call whenever yawanna

[Kobe Beef]

Dear CD,

I don't doubt we are victims of malevolent conspiracy. But even their existence and operation could not convey the full extent of fucked-uppedness Miles has born witness to in his post. Why are so many things so FUBAR in oh so many ways?

I like Robert Anton Wilson's simple explanation. The power dimension inherent in human relationships distorts communication.

To paraphrase: The pyramid structure of human hierarchical systems create two cognitive burdens which cannot be managed.

Those at the top, whether intelligent or stupid, beneficent or psychopathic all suffer from the Burden of Omniscience. In any system of sufficient complexity, those who make decisions cannot receive enough clear, timely information to make successful decisions. Their subordinates lie to cover failure, to shift blame, to curry favor, or to enhance their standing within the pyramid. There is a lot of noise & very little signal. There is no all-seeing eye at the top. It's blind. Or merely distracted.

Those on the bottom suffer from the Burden of Nescience. Since they are denied the right to make decisions, they are expected to act as though they know nothing. And thus much of the useful facts on the ground available to those eyes, ears, hands and feet working at the bottom of the pyramid become ignored. They have empirical, actual, useful information, but are not allowed to act upon it. Nor does this information flow up the pyramid to the decision makers.

People no matter how powerful cannot know everything; and no matter how powerless cannot know nothing.

As power becomes more & more centralized & the pyramid grows taller, the burdens become more extreme. Collapse of the affected organization is inevitable.

To mix a metaphor: The brain becomes disconnected from sensory input & becomes insane. Its bizarre and dysfunctional motor commands to the extremities become haphazardly followed or ignored.

We see the consequences of this all over Miles' Main Street. People give up. People half-ass. People goldbrick. People give their time & minds over to TV & the internet.

We see the consequences of this in our dispatches from Washington & NYC. Leaders fuck-up. Leaders propose crazy ideas. Leaders throw bigger monkeywrenches. Leaders promote bigger fixes or just loot what they can from a burning house.

Most of our "modern" systems have become power pyramids in terminal decline. They cannot be fixed. I think those who understand this situation should focus on how & with what they can be replaced.

Personally I think this is a good thing. This is a momentous time. We have a future to win & our chains to lose. If it wobbles, push it. Do what thou whilt. Do what thou must.

Cheers,
Beef

[BigJim]

+

[RockyRacoon]

I'm basically with you, CD.  Except one must look at what they are competent at.

They are so steeped in the Ponzi and the hype that they work very hard at doing the wrong things.  It's a steamroller that is full-throttle and unmanned.

[Dental Floss Tycoon]

Why assume incompetence when malicious intent makes more sense. This is a well planned and executed attack on the middle class. When the dust settles it will only be the rich and the rest of us.

[MsCreant]

Mini conspiracies, some fail, some make it, and the Peter Principle explain most of this.

the principle that "in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence".

"members are promoted so long as they work competently. Sooner or later they are promoted to a position at which they are no longer competent (their "level of incompetence"), and there they remain"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle

Grand conspiracies don't hang together well, though the culture of the elite propagating itself has some of the effects of a seemingly grand conspiracy.

[Cognitive Dissonance]

....and the Peter Principle explain most of this.

A comforting thought MsCreant. And for the wide swath of middle bureaucracy, governmental or corporate, I would agree. But this is not where policy is created and implemented, just where the smaller threads are woven.

People labor under a major misunderstanding of how larger conspiracies work. They are promoted as ideology or religion or pray tell economic/social policy. Instead of thinking that every one inside the box is controlled, consider that all you need to do is open or close a few interior doors or block a few passageways and change has been implemented. Everyone else will follow self interest and adapt to the new routes.

The people who make the actual changes to the passage are simply following order or rules and directives. They are so compartmentalized that they can't see beyond their nose, thus all they do is follow their nose. Doesn't mean there isn't a conspiracy, just that this little part isn't read into it.

I also agree that the vast majority of the wealthy are not involved in anything more sinister than making hay while the sun shines. They also will follow their own interests when doors are opened or closed. This again doesn't disprove a conspiracy, just that sheep come in various shapes, sizes and bank accounts.

[trav7777]

You're wrong, Mscreant is right.

Concert of action by likeminded actors is commonly mistaken for conspiracy.

There is no conspiracy.  You don't get to the top without being an asskisser who does what makes your boss happy.  And, along the way, you get highly arrogant as you start to accumulate your OWN legion of asskissing minions.

Surely, they told Dick Flud that Lehman was in GREAT shape, nothing could go wrong.  And he believed it because he chose to ignore hard facts.  And, nobody had the balls or more importanly, *inclination* to tell him the truth because he GOT RID OF all the truth tellers on his way to the top because telling the truth is bad for your job security.  Everyone knows this.

The truth is often the opposite of what people wish to be the case.  And, when they have the power, they get rid of those who make them unhappy in this way.  Delusional leaders like Bama are surrounded by legions of yesmen.

Systemic incompetence is a matter of Evolutionary Law.  It's very important to understand this point and it is something I've expounded upon many times.  Gresham's Law flows from Evolution and it operates also on THOUGHT and memes within a system.

ALL that is required for a trait to reinforce is for selective pressure to be placed in its favor.  Nothing else.

There are entire masses of people who believe things which are simply, factually, obviously UNtrue.  How is this possible?  Because a tendency of people is to rid themselves of dissent.  Sprinkle in a heavy dose of the Downing Effect and you find yourself exactly where we are.

Evolution is a powerful maxim; everyone would be wise to understand its ramifications because it explains almost all that we see.

[MachoMan]

I think a lot of the conspiracy theory concept is rooted in our innate desire to believe there is a higher/controlling power out there.  It's pretty scary to finally realize that no such power exists, control is a fickle mistress, and we're on our own in this one.  It's ultimately more scary to think about the possibility of a complete and total lack of control than to think about a concerted effort among a select cabal.

[honestann]

Oh yeah.  Like I really believe scum like Benanke and Bush and Obama have no more power than you & I.  While that should be true, it isn't.

[MachoMan]

You're missing the point.  The issue isn't that some people have more relative power than others, this is undeniable.  Rather, the issue is that even those with the most relative power still must yield to powers outside their control and are subject to the laws of gravity/rudimentary market forces/mathematical certainty.

"It takes a long time, but god dies too...  not before he'll stick it to you"

  - Isaac Brock

[chopper read]

well put, trav. 

as a result, independent schools of thought splinter off like fractals rather than finding some type of equilibrium consensus.  Finally, history gets written by the winners.  

[Miles Kendig]

Or what I have come to appreciate MsCreant.  That's Peter +2 seems to be the rule of the day.  Helps me keep things in perspective here off S. Main :D

[zhandax]

Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Is it adequate?  On balance, I don't personally think so, but I will concede that there are sufficient contributions from both factors to make for lively debate.

[MsCreant]

Nice job Miles. I see you could not resist the CondomNation. :-)

[Miles Kendig]

Thank you MsCreant.

Great ideas have a way of sticking around until they find the right home.  Then they change from an idea to a completed thought and alchemy ensues ... One can only hope that alchemy can be sustaining

It seems upon reflection that we off S. Main often act as if we can see five minutes into the future far better than we can see five minutes into the past.  Does it seem that way there on W. Elm as well?  Must be that good old human deal of focusing on the past/future at the expense of the moment action in full view.  Cheers Fight Clubber from the crew here off S. Main

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.zap2it.com/media/photo/20...

h/t Chumba, the most in the moment mf'er I ever witnessed.

[Absinthe Minded]

Where is Chumba? Seems like forever since He's posted. Some really great insight here, great thread Miles. Looks like we had an opening of the eyes today on Wall Street. I wonder what tomorrow will bring. I need one more pump before I yank my money, I know the music is going to stop pretty quick. I'll be out before the end of the week. Up here in NH things aren't too bad. My company cut back from 4 shifts a week to 3, which is basically 75% utilization. Bringing inventory down so we can slowly build through the winter and not have to lay off anybody. I find most prblems people have is from using their house as an ATM. Can you say UNDERWATER. What's new, same story everywhere. Good luck.

[Miles Kendig]

Looks like my Philly puts may pay well indeed..

Go Giants!

BTW, look at the end of this thread to find our missing Chumba.

[Invisible Hand]

duplicate, sorry

[Invisible Hand]

In a bureaucratic system, competent people tend to get fed up and opt out.

I was a technical person, then a medical scientist in the military.  To progress up the ranks you needed to organize golf tournaments, not perfrom your duties well.  I chose to focus on clinical competence and opted to retire ASAP to get out of the stupidity.  However, by doing so, I let the idiots who knew nothing (except how to organize golf tournaments and how to put themselves in for medals and awards) move up into positions of power.

I made a lot more money in civilian medicine but the organization I left continued to do stupid things.

This is the essential problem with modern society.  The ruling class is trained by the system to value "process" over "product."  Do the paperwork correctly, be loyal to the boss, don't make waves and you get promoted.  Never focus on doing the job, focus on your next promotion.  Go along, get along.

This has always been the way of governments and big organizations of any type (military, big corporations, universities, religious organizations).

When serving the Pope is more important than serving God, the purpose of the church is lost and the church looks incompetent and confused.  However, it really is that we just don't understand the organization's real goals.  We think that the stated goals are the real goals and judge the organization's performance against the stated goals.

For example, the government's "stated goals" are to govern the country well, defend its people, foster their well being and protect them against foreign and domestic enemies, and ensure the rule of law (something close to that anyway).

The governments "real goal" is to enrich the governing class and their supporters (masters?), to provide as many perks and luxuries to the rulers (travel, servants, luxury vacations--er.. fact finding trips) as possible, and to feed the egos of the masters of the universe (as they see themselves).

The problem is not incompetence on the part of the elites, it is a lack of understanding on the part of the ruled.  The government (and other large organizations) is always and everywhere a parasite on the populace.  As we give them more power they inevitably suck more blood from us.  Eventually, we must realize that either we kill the parasite (or a least reduce it to a manageable size) or the host must die.

[Miles Kendig]

The various aspects of symbiosis

Thank goodness I was an NCO.  AER, CFC and my duties were I'll I hadta fuck with.

[trav7777]

Agree with you 100%, and this is what I am saying above.

the System got the way it did as a result of selective pressure which selected not for competence but for personality compatibility with those applying it.

This is a very easy thought experiment:  imagine a boss who, every month, gets rid of someone who tells him something he doesn't like to hear, even if it is true.  It is easy to see that this evolutionary pressure on the organization will eventually lead to systemic incompetence.

If you talk to actors within this organization you will see Gresham's Law operating on what they think, represent, and believe.  It's as simple as how poisonous animals have red colors on them and why other animals avoid animals with red color on them or why mammals ordinarily fear snakes.  Those animals that were not born with an innate fear of snakes tended to have significantly lower offspring survival rates than those who ran, thus they did not pass on their genes at parity.  Consequently, fear traits came to dominate.

Everything IS the way it is because of evolution.

[cycjyf]

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[B9K9]

Miles, this was a really nice essay. Two general observations:

Point #1 - An organized conspiracy is unnecessary for those who understand the game. In our case, money lenders don't need to have the mechanics of exponents explained to them. Thus, anyone interested in profiting from the inevitable conclusion(s) will appear to be working in concert.

Just like thousands of skiiers will converge on the slopes after a major snow storm, no one had to organize such an outcome. If you ski & know it just snowed, you're going - it just looks organized because thousands of others who share the same cause->effect knowledge acted in a similar manner.

Point #2 - Your analysis, like many others seen at ZH, presume to assess a segment of the population who may actually care, but are in some way deficient. The mistake in this assumption is ignoring the other 50% or so of the population who actually like it this way. IOW, they want more gov't control, freebies, etc.

Now, at the risk of contradicting myself in #1, I do believe while general principles hold, there are still macro events that needed certain, um, "direction". If one is in the business of selling debt, look no further than the government as your best customer. And how to get government to buy more debt? Make sure the least qualified are enabled to participate via the voting process.

So why do the 50% who actually like it the way it is matter? Because they can vote. And enabling their ability to vote was engineered on purpose.

[Miles Kendig]

I was simply responding to a question that was sent to me care of this station.

Macro events are human contrived as most things in human society are by default. That being the case then the macro looking at these as imperatives follows.  It is the micro imperatives that act as a natural check when human macro weakness (gaining centricism as an expression of growing LDS) prevails and vis a vis.

The facts of human existance as we know them thus far.

[MachoMan]

Miles,

There is a cure to the insanity and it's going to be administered shortly.  The neatest part is, it's a passive solution, already baked in.  What is it?  Credit contraction.

I have a thesis that most peoples' lives are far too complicated and complex for them to not only thrive in, but to even function on a rudimentary level.  A significant portion of these complexities, useless electronic gizmos/babysitters, nanny state, obnoxious and pervasive legislation, middlemen, multiple wage earners per family, extended friend networks/required schmoozing, the necessity to appear wealthy and connected, the amount of personal assets that require maintenance, too many brands/choices for literally every purchase decision, all will be uprooted/drastically changed through the process of credit contraction.  That's not to say that things will necessarily be better, but many of the present issues will be "cured".

Further, I believe this complexity has completely broken us as a people.  When I look at americans, I do not see proud people.  I do not see resilient people who seek to make a better place for not only themselves, but their children and the world as a whole.  Instead, I see broken spirits...  almost as though people are resolved to their servitude and patiently await the crack of the whip.  I see people who are so utterly and completely encapsulated by the system that they refuse to leave the matrix, despite KNOWING that it is not real. 

I hope, through credit contraction, all of this changes and we're forced to grow backbone, some semblance of objectivity, and a genuine desire to work (not just go through the motions of work).  This will be an incredibly painful process, but the end does not have to be all bad.  I hope that we can re-emerge not necessarily as THE economic juggernaut of the world, but instead with better quality of life, better understanding of the pitfalls of our decisions/lack of vigilence or apathy to the political process, and more goodwill towards our fellow man.  This may be naive of me given the CERTAIN hardship we must endure to get there...  but without some common goal, we're all just vagabonds.

[trav7777]

well, we need to abandon a 400-year growth paradigm to get there.  This will require hard, rational choices.

Not a lot of rationality appearing to threaten to break out, not so far as I see anyhow.  Brave New World is the template for how a steady-state society might function, and they call it a dystopia.  The Savage was the fool; I've come to realize that.

[MachoMan]

The traditional concept of growth is...  over.  Eventually you run out of new lands and natives to subjugate...  cheap wells to drill...  you name it.  Of course, that doesn't stop loans from getting issued...  (DOH!)

Rationality is a prison.  The mere process of attempting objectivity is painful.  Attaining some semblance of objective thought is nothing short of a gutwrenching experience.  It is as much of a curse as a blessing.

While rationality may not emerge, at least through credit contraction the environment will exist for it to be created/embraced.  You can lead a horse to water...

[Miles Kendig]

yep.  In the interim the refrain of the day remains..

Schulden Macht Frei

[Ruth]

Thank You for answering my question Miles;)  I've never stuck to a system that treats me like a number, oh, when I was learning every thing about my trade, ya bet ya, I did every job I could.  Just like everyone here adds to the flavor and seasoning of views, if I can boldly say, the fuckyou'dness is hitting too deep.  And while your explanation from porchside explains the culmination of a complete circlejerk and I do appreciate your analysis, this is becoming one for the history books!   I hope you keep on telling us like it is;)   END.THE.FED.

ps. Seems you may have been downplaying your talents somewhat from Fight Club, and your first night of fighting (as a guest post) will not be the last.    See ya ringside!

[Miles Kendig]

Pleasure.

You know I love getting into the Fight Club ring.  It's friggin' addictive. 

Thanks Tyler.

When is Dennis the Menace going to start, under a bag of course since he would have those professional obligations to circumvent?

[chumbawamba]

Miles,

If find these offerings from Zeppelin to be appropriate to your screed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZVsGxa_Vzk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbrjRKB586s

Lunch?

I am Chumbawamba.

[RockyRacoon]

Good to see you here!  As a child of the 60s I can appreciate the Zep selections.  Those were my formative years!  I was a rebel in the Air Force when these came out and I still recall the good times along with the anguish.

[Miles Kendig]

Anytime I am in the neighborhood.

Good to see you mf'er!  And thanx for posting.  You've been as missed as reviled.  I can only aspire to such good works that send some into disarray over the chafe no amount of ammonia n water, or shower time can assuage.

I wouldn't go back now for any amount of money, or anything else 

I am Miles Kendig

[Absinthe Minded]

Ask and ye shall receive. Good to see you again Chumba. I don't know if I've been reading the wrong threads or if you've been away as long as it seems. Anyway great Zeppelin! Been a Zephead for a long time. Nothing like "No Quarter" of the Song Remains the Same. I remember listening to that album all the time back in high school. Still gives me shivers when Jimmy Page rips into that solo in the middle of it, great feel.

[Miles Kendig]

Even more than a freshly chilled fountain going drip, drip, drip .. and a stack of sugar cubes nearby...

[MsCreant]

Miss you Chumba. 

[chumbawamba]

;)

[velobabe]

Hi Chumba, welcome back!

did you get a lot of blow jobs, on your unexpected holiday?

velody†

[mark456]

Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic.
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