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Investor Psychology: Fear Turns People Into Sheep
Investors are basically rational, right?
In fact, as many studies have demonstrated, the answer is no.
But instead of wading through all of the investment psychology research, let's look at research into people's basic reasoning abilities.
Bear with me for a minute. A study in an area unrelated to investing
sheds light on people's basic thinking processes.
Sociologists
from four major research institutions investigated why so many
Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11, years after it
became obvious that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.
The researchers found, as described in an article in the journal Sociological Inquiry (and re-printed by Newsweek):
- Many Americans felt an urgent need to seek justification for a war already in progress
- Rather
than search rationally for information that either confirms or
disconfirms a particular belief, people actually seek out information
that confirms what they already believe.
- "For the most part people completely ignore contrary information."
- "The study demonstrates voters' ability to develop elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information"
- People
get deeply attached to their beliefs, and form emotional attachments
that get wrapped up in their personal identity and sense of morality,
irrespective of the facts of the matter.
- "We refer
to this as 'inferred justification, because for these voters, the sheer
fact that we were engaged in war led to a post-hoc search for a
justification for that war.
- "People were basically making up justifications for the fact that we were at war"
- "They
wanted to believe in the link [between 9/11 and Iraq] because it helped
them make sense of a current reality. So voters' ability to develop
elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information, whether we
think that is good or bad for democratic practice, does at least
demonstrate an impressive form of creativity.
An article
yesterday in Alternet discussing the Sociological Inquiry article helps
us to understand that the key to people's active participation in
searching for excuses for actions by the big boys is fear:
Subjects
were presented during one-on-one interviews with a newspaper clip of
this Bush quote: "This administration never said that the 9/11 attacks
were orchestrated between Saddam and al-Qaeda."
The Sept. 11 Commission, too, found no such link, the subjects were told.
"Well,
I bet they say that the commission didn't have any proof of it," one
subject responded, "but I guess we still can have our opinions and feel
that way even though they say that."
Reasoned another: "Saddam, I can't judge if he did what he's being accused of, but if Bush thinks he did it, then he did it."
Others declined to engage the information at all. Most
curious to the researchers were the respondents who reasoned that
Saddam must have been connected to Sept. 11, because why else would the
Bush Administration have gone to war in Iraq?
The desire to believe this was more powerful, according to the researchers, than any active campaign to plant the idea.
Such a campaign did exist in the run-up to the war...
He won't credit [politicians spouting misinformation] alone for the phenomenon, though.
"That
kind of puts the idea out there, but what people then do with the idea
... " he said. "Our argument is that people aren't just empty vessels.
You don't just sort of open up their brains and dump false information
in and they regurgitate it.They're actually active processing
cognitive agents"...
The alternate explanation raises queasy questions for the rest of society.
"I
think we'd all like to believe that when people come across
disconfirming evidence, what they tend to do is to update their
opinions," said Andrew Perrin, an associate professor at UNC and another author of the study...
"The
implications for how democracy works are quite profound, there's no
question in my mind about that," Perrin said. "What it means is that we
have to think about the emotional states in which citizens find
themselves that then lead them to reason and deliberate in particular
ways."
Evidence suggests people are more likely to pay attention to facts within certain emotional states and social situations. Some may never change their minds. For others, policy-makers could better identify those states, for example minimizing the fear that often clouds a person's ability to assess facts ...
The Alternet article links to a must-read interview with psychology professor Sheldon Solomon, who explains:
A
large body of evidence shows that momentarily [raising fear of death],
typically by asking people to think about themselves dying, intensifies
people's strivings to protect and bolster aspects of their worldviews,
and to bolster their self-esteem. The most common finding is that [fear
of death] increases positive reactions to those who share cherished
aspects of one's cultural worldview, and negative reactions toward
those who violate cherished cultural values or are merely different.
Fear in the Economic and Financial Arenas
Has something similar happened in the economic/financial arenas?
Congressmen Brad Sherman and Paul Kanjorski and Senator James Inhofe all say that the government warned of martial law if Tarp wasn't passed. And Rahm Emanuel famously said:
Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it's an opportunity to do things you couldn't do before.
Last year, Senator Leahy said "If we learned anything from 9/11, the biggest mistake is to pass anything they ask for just because it's an emergency"
And the New York Times wrote last year:
"The
rescue is being sold as a must-have emergency measure by an
administration with a controversial record when it comes to asking
Congress for special authority in time of duress."
***
Mr.
Paulson has argued that the powers he seeks are necessary to chase away
the wolf howling at the door: a potentially swift shredding of the
American financial system. That would be catastrophic for everyone, he
argues, not only banks, but also ordinary Americans who depend on their
finances to buy homes and cars, and to pay for college.
Some are
suspicious of Mr. Paulson’s characterizations, finding in his warnings
and demands for extraordinary powers a parallel with the way the Bush
administration gained authority for the war in Iraq. Then, the White
House suggested that mushroom clouds could accompany Congress’s failure
to act. This time, it is financial Armageddon supposedly on the
doorstep.
“This is scare tactics to try to do something that’s in
the private but not the public interest,” said Allan Meltzer, a former
economic adviser to President Reagan, and an expert on monetary policy
at the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business. “It’s terrible.”
Not Just Government
But it's not just government . . .
If
the too big to fails say that the world economy will crash and there
will be martial law unless they are bailed out, politicians - most of
whom don't understand finance or economics - will believe them, and
sound the alarm themselves.
As Karl Denninger wrote yesterday:
[AIG's
CEO] left Geithner with two documents. One was a fact sheet that listed
all the attributes of AIG FP [the division run by Joe Cassano that blew
the company up] and argued why it should be given status as a primary
dealer. The other–a bombshell that Willumstad was confident would draw
Geithner’s attention–was a report on AIG’s counterparty
exposure around the world, which included “2.7 trillion of notional
derivative exposures, with 12,000 individual contracts.” About
halfway down the page, in bold, was the detail that Willumstad hoped
would strike Geithner as startling: “$1 trillion of exposures
concentrated with 12 major financial institutions.”Was that a threat?
And isn't threatening the United States (whether directly or otherwise) something you're not supposed to do?
Sounds like "Bail me out or I will crash everything."
Isn't
that analagous to walking into a bank, opening one's coat to reveal an
explosives-laced belt, and saying "gimme all the money or everyone
dies!"
Yves Smith has previously used a similar analogy.
Fear Among Individual Investors
Investors
- as with politicians or Americans in general - believe that "when
[they] come across disconfirming evidence . . . . they tend to ...
update their opinions", but in reality, they cling to the beliefs they
formed during certain heightened emotional states, such as fear.
Fear
turns people into sheep. Once they are sheep, they will strive mightily
to justify the actions of their "leaders" - whether those leaders gave
trillions of dollars in bailouts or got us into war, and even if the
leaders' justifications were false.
I believe this dynamic is also playing out in the fact that many Americans assume that
the government has a real plan for fixing the economy, is working as
hard as it can to do so, and that - eventually - things will improve.
Just
as most Americans believe "since we're at war in Iraq, and since the
government previously claimed that Saddam was behind 9/11, he must have
been", they are probably thinking "since the government gave trillions
to the giant banks and said that economists have figure out how to fix
things, they must have done what was needed, and things will turn
around in a v-shape recovery".
The lengths people go to rationalize
a false link between Saddam and 9/11 is a great example, because it may
reveal by analogy how far people will go to justify their trust in our
economic leaders and in their own investment decisions.
Of
course, the yearning for high returns is the other half of what drives
investor psychology. But this essay focuses on fear.
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You will only perform as well as you are trained.
As Mises stated you owe your employer no gratitude but a defined quality and quantity of work. As the last sentence states in the book of Judges so we are as a percentage in area's of the nation and the world. No secret just ignorances which are curable in normal affairs not entitled attitudes. I do not enjoy - rather - many bla bla acedemics since really acountability of contract sorts it out anyway.
Americans deserve what they have sown and the sheep will PAY for the laggards until they grow up and say no more.
Not going to happen since they will kill me as they come to the door to collect revenue from a braindead enforcer of the law. I have no issue with the gatekeeper and clearly understand bastiat's work. In the early days of the nation you had to work to eat not flash a plastic card to barter goods for cocaine as we moniter in the area since the police will not go in any more. How do i know this? We have a police officer in the family. We watch these section eight animals go to war over drug payments in Clan fuedal systems in our neighborhood. We watch compomise as the task force dilutes the reality to stay off the radar and target your tax dollar to avert crisis from group extorsion systems we monitor as civil rights. Failed state and if they break into my home i have the castle law only. Americans distance themselves since they must until there hell to pay in direction of social change as called today. I call it no back bone. No flowery rhetorical responses when they people take your money and i have no rightsbut subject myself evil not apathy. many fell this way and do work in the community of change and really when homeless people complain about breath test at our overnight facility I draw the line citizen, and they want to sue as womwne and children seek shelter. Call it as is since it is. Wake up people the world is fallen and do what you can only to help and not enable it since it is never warranted.
Failure to function in face of fear is a general systems protection fault that will paralyze the person.
Now. The great danger is being in a herd. Should the Herd stampede you are going to have to decide which way to go and fast.
Failure to think and execute in face of fear is fatal.
You said it
Some interesting comments and an intriguing post. John Kenneth Galbraith summed the topic up with his short quip: 'Given the opportunity to change one's mind or think up reasons not to, most people will get busy on the reasons.'
While most people will read Galbraith's quote and believe that they are among the rational group that will consider new evidence and change their mind if necessary, the truth is very few are capable of accomplishing this.
The free market ideologues wanted us to believe that investors are 'rational' because it was the only way they could make their so-called 'models' work: They needed the image of an emotionless robot, or they would no look 'scientific'.
As we all know, and some of us always knew, they are crap. Not only are
investors mostly reacting 'irrationally', they simply are human beings. And human beings are essentially prone to irrational behaviour. You don't have to believe in Freud: Thousands of studies have since shown how emotionally people react in most every situation, be it love, catastrophe, war or unexpected events in general, like a sudden crisis in the markets.
The free market ideologues wanted us to believe that investors are 'rational' because it was the only way they could make their so-called 'models' work: They needed the image of an emotionless robot, or they would no look 'scientific'.
As we all know, and some of us always knew, they are crap. Not only are
investors mostly reacting 'irrationally', they simply are human beings. And human beings are essentially prone to irrational behaviour. You don't have to believe in Freud: Thousands of studies have since shown how emotionally people react in most every situation, be it love, catastrophe, war or unexpected events in general, like a sudden crisis in the markets.
Bush's enemies also made people believe in the false 9/11 Iraq connection. Almost every anti-Bush person on TV (some were anti-war, but notice how most of the anti-war people have shut up now that Obama is prez?) said there was no connection between Iraq and 9/11, as if Bush had said there was. It's a great propaganda tactic to argue against an accusation that was never made, thus creating either the idea that it was said, or even planting the idea, since your enemies may believe it if only because you oppose it.
agree with the anonymouse above that the plant was more obvious than you describe, but otherwise excellent point. it's jiu-jitsu: convince your opponent to use their weakness to strengthen your position while you make a minimal amount of effort. in this case, the fact that it was the 'screaming liberals' were the ones arguing against the connection bolstered the idea of the connection in much of middle america without donny & dick lifting a finger.
actually believe this exact technique is being used quite masterfully in the socio-politic-economic sphere at the moment. case in point: for halloween, i dressed up as a teabagger, complete with a pitchfork and gadsen flag. i had 2 dudes, white dudes in their 20's, come up to me on separate occasions, accuse me of being a racist & ready to throw down. it was only after i quoted MLK and reminded them that they were the ones that were going to pay for all this crap that they were able to calm down & understand that i wasn't advocating shooting the president.
divide & conquer baby. divide & conquer.
The Bush administration did everything they could to conflate the connection between Iraq and 9-11, as a simple search shows. Perhaps you should read a few of their statements.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3119676.stm
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0314/p02s01-woiq.html
And I am sure their is more.
It just shows the stupidity of the public. I watched the debate closely and they never made the link. The main argument was that Saddam couldn't be left in power now that terrorists could strike the U.S. Saddam was thought to have WMD, he could give them to terrorists, etc.
Gives you a warm fuzzy feeling given the current state of affairs. I bet the American public even believes Obama wants to improve healthcare, and that Bush tried to save the economy.
""Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't want war neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." -Hermann Goering
What of the very rational fear of investing in a system which condones 2 sets of corporate books, black trading pools, more HFT than one can count, derivatives and other numerous fraudulent schemes to part one from one's money?
"many Americans assume that the government has a real plan for fixing the economy"
OMG, They don't?
You could have just said that brainwashing works on anyone with an iq below 120 - hence the dumbing down and continued deterioration of America's doomed educational system since the 50s which is actually a German-American mind control camp.
Sometimes I look at the credit crunch related actions of our government and start getting this feeling that it's been used to consolidate power and dictate the big brother will onto the people.
Competition has been practically destoryed and the whole finance industry consolidated. So the main source of credit for a business that might be employing you is the big brother. What will stop the big brother from telling you, shut the fuck up / obey / or no credit for you? And while most of our rights could be defended in the court, there is no such a right in our constitution as the right for the credit.
So our choice or the choice for those who have some economic power and provide most of our living by employing us is simple, credit or freedom. Given that most of us would rather chose the life of conformed comfort, the choice is obvious - credit.
If you don't fight for your rights, you lose them. We don't because despite the credit crunch, most of us comfortable with our dellusions with our rights and freedoms.
So what is it going to be, credit or freedom?
Grameen Bank
In 1976, during visits to the poorest households in the village of Jobra near Chittagong University, Muhammad Yunus discovered that very small loans could make a disproportionate difference to a poor person. Jobra women who made bamboo furniture had to take out usurious loans for buying bamboo, to pay their profits to the moneylenders. His first loan, consisting of USD 27.00 from his own pocket, was made to 42 women in the village, who made a net profit of BDT 0.50 (USD 0.02) each on the loan, thus vastly improving Bangladesh's ability to export and import as it did in the past, resulting in a greater form of globalization and economic status.
The power of credit is profound. A little goes a long way, but at the margin Credit is Cash on crack. Banks sold it to us for the vig, now we let ourselves be owned though the clear and distinct and willful fault of certain "Goldman Sacked America" -influenced elected representatives. Cold turkey never feels good, but slavery sucks ass. Get over it an throw off your chains. The most radical thought is live within your means, re-use before you use, and see the heavily-forged chains of credit as clear as the Ghost of Jacob Marley.
George Washington, just when we said we needed another G.W. you appeared.
Just say the word 9/11 and see how it makes you feel - we were mass programmed like pavlovian dogs to elicit a predictable response when the tool of future fear of death was used to lead the public towards specific agendas. The bush administration seemed to raise the threat level to a different color anytime they wanted to focus attention away from any politically inconvenient news story of the day or sell a war under threat of WMD.
Studies have shown that people generally make decisions for emotional reasons, and then follow up with logical reasons to support and rationalize their emotional decision. This is where sell the sizzle not the steak comes from. To even consider an alternative hypothesis for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran typically elicits an emotional response for people because of what they would also have to believe if the official story was not the truth. The state like the market is not efficient and is made up of individuals as flawed as you and me, probably more flawed.
Relevant quotes:
"Naturally, the common people don't want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country." Hermann Goerig, Hitler's Reich Martial at the Nuremberg Trials after WWII
The nation is divided, half patriots and half traitors, and no man can tell which from which. Mark Twain
Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and excusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let me label you as they may. Mark Twain
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin
"The Law" is a great paper written by an individual that witnessed the French Revolution - it really lifted my spirits and made me hopeful for a better Republic. The ability to articulate the purpose of the law - "all the measures of the law should protect property and prevent plunder" and why government should exist resonated with my perspective.
Here is an excerpt from economicedge.blogspot.com: "Man can live and satisfy his wants only by ceaseless labor; by the ceaseless application of his faculties to natural resources. This process is the origin of property.
But it is also true that a man may live and satisfy his wants by seizing and consuming the products of the labor of others. This process is the origin of plunder.
Now since man is naturally inclined to avoid pain — and since labor is pain in itself — it follows that men will resort to plunder whenever plunder is easier than work. History shows this quite clearly. And under these conditions, neither religion nor morality can stop it.
When, then, does plunder stop? It stops when it becomes more painful and more dangerous than labor.
It is evident, then, that the proper purpose of law is to use the power of its collective force to stop this fatal tendency to plunder instead of to work. All the measures of the law should protect property and punish plunder.
But, generally, the law is made by one man or one class of men. And since law cannot operate without the sanction and support of a dominating force, this force must be entrusted to those who make the laws.
This fact, combined with the fatal tendency that exists in the heart of man to satisfy his wants with the least possible effort, explains the almost universal perversion of the law. Thus it is easy to understand how law, instead of checking injustice, becomes the invincible weapon of injustice. It is easy to understand why the law is used by the legislator to destroy in varying degrees among the rest of the people, their personal independence by slavery, their liberty by oppression, and their property by plunder. This is done for the benefit of the person who makes the law, and in proportion to the power that he holds." http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html
I highly suggest reading it, it's uplifting - the opposite of fear. I would like to add that gratitude is the opposite of fear, it's impossible to be fearful (and easily manipulated) when you live in an attitude of gratitude. Fear is a tool of the tyrant - Swine Flu, Global Terrorism, and Global Warming are tools of the tyrant. How do I know? Say the word and see if you feel happy or fearful, they have been emotionally programmed through the media to lead you towards their agenda through PRS (problem, response, solution). Now say Goldman Sachs - how does that make you feel? Perhaps we can use this tool by asking the right questions for the masses:
What is the source of the authority for the private bank called the fed to create debt out of thin air and force the US government to tax the populace to pay interest on that which they created without toil, sweat, and labor? Why can't individual US states build their own printing presses and issue currency without interest? Who are the individuals behind the corporations that own the fed? Since the fed is not being audited, what are they hiding and what are they afraid of people finding out? Could the fed be providing capital to its friends and family? Could the fed abuse its power to purposely snuff out competition from the community and regional banks? Could the fed target capital allocation in an ethnocentric manner and credit starve those that don't share their background, race, or religion? From where does the authority to issue coin originate, who has responsibility for oversight - does the consent of the governed/financed have anything to do with it?
thanks for the illumination, colonel.
Apocalypse Now for President!! Or at least resident Philosophy of Law Chair at ZeroHedge University.
That was brilliant and covered all the bases. Thank you for the hard earned wisdom succinctly said.
Euclid
Damn but I love your posts A.N.
Same for G.W.
Thanks Guys!
The Statist always seeks to concentrate power since it easier to control. What The Administration/Fed is doing to the regional banks now (and just about all small business) is an absolute crime. I think fear is justified if it motivates one to act ... when being chased by a Bear you don't have to be fast, just faster than the one next to you.
A famous author, Kazantzakis, once said: "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free!"
Exactly! Zorba was not duped by rational, neo-cortex games that when chess devolves into checkers and tic-tac-toe, we are so driven by the reptilian, cerbellum-based fear and flight and decry rationalism. The answer lies in the limbic brain in silence and action. BS is neutralised; body language and tone of voice tell the tale.
"Investors are basically rational, right?"
It probably doesn't take an IQ much over 30 to figure out that this financial system is completely corrupt and that the markets are 'kind of' rigged. So, why anyone would "invest" under these circumstances might preclude the notion that these people are rational.
Basically, they have bought into the national obsession of wanting "something for nothing," willing to risk just about anything to get it.
How pathetic.
Good stuff. Don't you feel like taking a shower after going to Alternet though? (putting on tin-foil hat). We are running out of hydrocarbons and have to artificially jack up their price to make solar and wind power clear the market thereby saving the planet from changing weather which our computer models have determined with enough synthetic derivatives and diversification will never fail to cash flow and therefore deserve a AAA rating. Variants of these models carefully control our institutions VAR and counterparty exposure of the $100-$650 Trillion of derivatives we use to ensure never ending prosperity always keeping the doors open unless we need a little extra taxpayer generated capital because of a little excess--FEAR.
Ditto for the propaganda being used to sell a massive expansion of government for 'health care reform'.
Human beings will be free of manipulation by TPTB when they exercise that rational frontal lobe and tell the little limbic brain to shut up. I understand there are plans for a pipeline running through Afganistan. Hmm.
Last thought from psych 101. Anger is the secondary response to fear (pitchforks) and there is nothing quite as dangerous as a cornered animal who has nothing left to lose.
Euclid
Great post. Surprised at how much of George Washington's Blog is appearing on other sites lately.
So, from this, does "Unsere Letzte Hoffnung" ring a bell with anyone? We had the very soft sell version of that in the 2008 election. Barring a terrific economic recovery, we will probably have the hard-sell version in 2012, and may not have to worry about tedious elections for a while after that.
No taxes here, but, then again TSMC, that's me!
Understood. Your avatar is lovely. ;-)
Good post. I can add that fear narrows perception and makes it more difficult to take in the bigger picture. That is one reason calming down during a big decision is sooo important. The neo-cortex, which handles higher cognitive functions, get put on the back burner some, and the amygdala/limbic system takes over. If you think about it, in a real danger situation, the time it would take you to "think something through" is too much time and you are dead. The brain reverts to older, tried and true, imprinted response patterns to get you out of trouble.
Then when you get into fight, flight, and freeze, you have a whole other level of conversation. Freeze (stay in the bad deal, hope it blows over) is a very natural response to fear. There are some who just run from the situation, hoping to outrun the problems. But when all else fails, often what we need to do is fight.
Fight the Squid circle jerk.
Fight the Fed
Fight our misrepresentatives
Open the books
Jail the crooks
It's not so much fear that puts our neo-cortex to sleep and activates our primitive limbic system. It's emotional arousal that does so. Thus high arousal, irrespective of the "flavor" of emotion, is the culprit. Consequently, very high fear, anger, happiness (or any emotion for that matter) will cause the neo-cortex to begin shutting down and will simultaneously activate the very primitive but very quick limbic system.
In essence, high arousal makes us stupid. The particular "flavor" of emotion to which the arousal is attached is irrelevant. Therefore, highly aroused "greed," like highly aroused "fear," will significantly increase the probability that we will think and behave impulsively and irrationally.
It's not so much fear that puts our neo-cortex to sleep and activates our primitive limbic system. It's emotional arousal that does so. Thus high arousal, irrespective of the "flavor" of emotion, is the culprit. Consequently, very high fear, anger, happiness (or any emotion for that matter) will cause the neo-cortex to begin shutting down and will simultaneously activate the very primitive but very quick limbic system.
In essence, high arousal makes us stupid. The particular "flavor" of emotions to which the arousal is attached is irrelevant. Therefore, highly aroused "greed," like highly aroused "fear," will significantly increase the probability that we will think and behave impulsively and irrationally.
One of the best ways to combat fear is ACTION.
I believe that the sheeple are no longer paralayzed primarily by fear, but by need for a clear method of action to begin taking our country back.
It's also true that those who may prefer the ostrich-in-the-sand approach, those who have a naive trust of MSM (which was not always as it is today), or those who may lack well-developed deductive reasoning skills may need a little help.
At the moment, they are being spoon-fed dribble that they instinctively feel is not honest -- and certainly does not correspond to their reality -- but they lack the tools to question and demand change.
Back in the Middle Ages, when only a select few knew how to read or write, and even kings and queens used official seals in lieu of written signatures, those in power communicated to the masses via pictures. Stained glass windows, illuminated manuscripts, etc.
Following that thought: The depth of corruption is so vast, the interconnections sometimes date back decades, and the multitude of names are difficult for many to keep track of, in this every-day-is-another-abomination "reality."
As a single point of departure, what about creating a visual of the GS props throughout the world? A sort of flow chart, along the lines of the graphic published in the WSJ shortly after the Madoff connections began to be revealed? I'm thinking something along the lines of this: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122956128953016563.html#articleTabs%3Din..., where countries, heads of state, and those in positions of power in DC could be linked via their GS connections. Something concise, easily read and comprehended could make a powerful impact. Especially if it could go viral, as you'd suggested a couple of weeks ago. Simple, yet with enough data that anyone could easily very the accuracy -- when the truth seems too impossible to believe.
In addition, maybe someone should keep a simple, running list of the bodies. Date, location, name, relevance. That might begin to show the human cost. Some have been "suicided," as it's referred to on ZH, others have taken their own lives due to dishonor and personal disgrace. That's quite a price to pay for greed.
Just a couple of thoughts to share, as we MUST start moving before it's too late. As bad as things are, every day it becomes a greater crisis.
It always begins with education/enlightenment. Then if a pathway is clear, I believe the majority will care enough & be willing to sacrifice in order to reclaim their Constitutional right to liberty.
Thanks for indulging these musings, and for all the depth of information and concern shared by so many on this blog.
Apathy changes nothing.
One of the best ways to combat fear is ACTION.
I believe that the sheeple are no longer paralayzed primarily by fear, but by need for a clear method of action to begin taking our country back.
It's also true that those who may prefer the ostrich-in-the-sand approach, those who have a naive trust of MSM (which was not always as it is today), or those who may lack well-developed deductive reasoning skills may need a little help.
At the moment, they are being spoon-fed dribble that they instinctively feel is not honest -- and certainly does not correspond to their reality -- but they lack the tools to question and demand change.
Back in the Middle Ages, when only a select few knew how to read or write, and even kings and queens used official seals in lieu of written signatures, those in power communicated to the masses via pictures. Stained glass windows, illuminated manuscripts, etc.
Following that thought: The depth of corruption is so vast, the interconnections sometimes date back decades, and the multitude of names are difficult for many to keep track of, in this every-day-is-another-abomination "reality."
As a single point of departure, what about creating a visual of the GS props throughout the world? A sort of flow chart, along the lines of the graphic published in the WSJ shortly after the Madoff connections began to be revealed? I'm thinking something along the lines of this: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122956128953016563.html#articleTabs%3Din..., where countries, heads of state, and those in positions of power in DC could be linked via their GS connections. Something concise, easily read and comprehended could make a powerful impact. Especially if it could go viral, as you'd suggested a couple of weeks ago. Simple, yet with enough data that anyone could easily very the accuracy -- when the truth seems too impossible to believe.
In addition, maybe someone should keep a simple, running list of the bodies. Date, location, name, relevance. That might begin to show the human cost. Some have been "suicided," as it's referred to on ZH, others have taken their own lives due to dishonor and personal disgrace. That's quite a price to pay for greed.
Just a couple of thoughts to share, as we MUST start moving before it's too late. As bad as things are, every day it becomes a greater crisis.
It always begins with education/enlightenment. Then if a pathway is clear, I believe the majority will care enough & be willing to sacrifice in order to reclaim their Constitutional right to liberty.
Thanks for indulging these musings, and for all the depth of information and concern shared by so many on this blog.
Apathy changes nothing.
Here is your Goldman tentacle flow chart: http://sunbringerblog.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-07-26T07:31:00-07:00&max-results=15
And investors, in trading, should not be wedded to either the perma-bear or perma-bull case. Have no preconceptions; be willing to listen to all points of view - those from the NAR as well as those of Karl Denninger et. al.
"Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even the
dull and the ignorant, for they too have their story..."
Evolving as an investor? I now trade this market by the day, up and down sinmultaneously. Maybe after three years I've gained some perspective? The world will NOT end tomorrow, the USD will be with us a while longer, yet there are definite opportunities of all kinds out there, even in this time of 'fear'.
Everyone is so very terrified of the very risk that presents them opportunity. Take advantage of that terror, but be nimble...
"And investors, in trading, should not be wedded to either the perma-bear or perma-bull case"
I'll have to change my name ... after all I have a worldview to protect.
Do you enjoy tax haven benefits, by any chance? They stole my country from me.
Indeed TSMC. Both of you are correct. :)
sandman
My immediate thought, September 2008: "They gambled our country away. "
That I had been expecting the dominoes to start falling more than 4 years prior made it no less tragic -- perhaps moreso, as the writing was clearly on the wall.
No one can honestly feign surprise.
Heck, we're talking about a US male population that sees a new pecker pill commercial on the nightly news and pounds on the desk of their doctor the next day to get it NOW.
I dunno. Rationalization might be a reach in the New SubNormal.
In a culture where we tell lies to ourselves as well as others in order to maintain our (insane) way of living, it's more revealing to look at the things we don't talk about than those we do. Rationalization is one if the key ingredients to living in denial.
We so desperately wish to maintain the fiction that we think for ourselves, that our actions are based upon reason and logic. Spend a few years working in the advertising industry and you will eventually be debased of most of those popular illusions.
GW covers this subject well in a limited space through various links. I urge readers to spend some time reading the underlying datum. Of particular interest is the idea of imprinting, where during emotional and physical crisis, the first pieces of information as to who, what, when, where and most importantly why are deeply imprinted in the core of our brains. Official propaganda is so very important during those crucial first minutes, hours and days.
Once there, it is extremely difficult if not outright impossible to dislodge these usually false "first impressions" without experiencing significant pain from the resulting cognitive dissonance. Few people wish to push through that pain to reach a higher level of understanding and will instead seek information that reinforces preconceived notions and the original imprinting. The brain actually releases powerful and extremely pleasurable chemicals when we read, see and hear information that confirms our worldview.
Did you notice how quickly after 9/11 various "officials" and other authority figures rushed in with statements assessing blame, followed rapidly with photos, names and other collaborating information that upon further review don't hold water? Or have we not even pushed past the initial cognitive dissonance to challenge the original imprinting?
In the face of everything we have experienced over the past 2 years, don't you think it's time to consider alternatives to your established worldview? Just asking.