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A Walk in the Woods – We Hate Goldman
Not too far from me is a park area called Teatown. It is about 850 acres
and has 15 miles of trails through forests and lakes. Most of the land
and a good chunk of the budget is donated by local supporters. During
the summer there are busloads of kids from the city that come to enjoy a
day in the woods. I go there once in a while to burn off some stress
and enjoy being alone in nature. I did that yesterday afternoon. I chose
a trail I have not been on in some years. Aptly called:
Parts of the trail are well traveled.
Other parts not.
Along the way you see the improvements that some individuals have made. For example, this walkway over a wetland.
A Mr. Oldenberg made this possible back in 1990.
A number of others who have appreciated this spot have made similar contributions.
On my walk I came to this “busy” intersection.
You can imagine (if you know me) my anger, shock and disappointment to see this at the trail juncture:
Apparently three years ago the nice folks at Goldie wrote a tax
deductable check and had some help bring in some wood chips for this
trail. Now they get a plaque with their name on it that will last
forever. Whatever improvements GS made back then have been washed away
from three hard winters. But Goldie still has their advertisement right
in the middle of the woods.
I was looking at this and taking a picture when a teenage couple came up
the path. I guessed that they were not this deep in the woods for
“sylvan” pleasures. I pointed to the sign and asked:
BK: Do you know who Goldman Sachs is?
BOY: They’re the ones who stole the money in the stock market.
GIRL: My father says it’s the Wall Street that caused the depression.
BK: That sounds about right.
BOY: Should we rip it out?
BK: No. Let’s leave it. Everyone who walks by this spot will be reminded of how much we don’t like these guys.
BOY: Okay. Which way you going?
I pointed left. They went right.
I have said many times that you can’t do GOOD and at the same time do WELL
on Wall Street. GS and its partners are doing very WELL. They attempt
to do some GOOD things in an effort to create a softer image and create a
tax deduction. It will not work. Teenagers and old cynics like me see
through it.
GS should take down the sign in the woods. It is having the exact
opposite reaction to what they intended. It reminds us that we don’t
like them. We know they are predators. And we know that predators, like
wolves, have a place in this world. But we don’t want these wolves in
our backyard.
If the deep thinkers at GS read this I hope they get the message. You’re
best advised to keep a low profile. Don’t rile us more. Keep you’re “We’re good guys” signs out of our sight. We know that is just crap.
Excuse the personal rant.
bk
»
- advertisements -
all i get from your mish mash of thoughts is
subsidies are good for farmers, bad for GS.
I say both are bad.
I say farmers are FAR more guilty of feeding at the public trough, forever whining about bad weather , unfair competition, etc etc.
And by forever, I mean for many, many decades.
I hope the gov't finally does stop subsidies to all, and we'll see who manages and who doesn't.
lucky for me i don't have to associate with my betters, although i just ate a nice tasty one.
fine. end all aid to instreal and send the 5th columnist scum to go and live amongst themselves.
i think you must have missed 'pill time'
God, you're the biggest POS on this site.
coming from you, i take that as the best compliment possible.
seriously.
So now you're an expert!
liberal sodomy
You're number 2, jewbag.
Resorting to an epithet like that is quite revealing. Thanks for making your position clear. It's not always possible to effectively refute a solid argument like yours. I believe that knowing an adversary's weak points is a vital element of strategy. Knowing the nature of whom one is dealing with is good information.
You overestimate your esteem. Typical.
Of what?
just because YOU weren't/aren't capable of it, don't assume everyone can't.
i know it makes all of you feel better to assume that rich, successful people must be cheating, so go on with your delusion, because the truth is clearly too painful for ya.
Cheating? I never said cheating. You don't have to cheat when you are a predator. I don't think that GS goes to work and cheats. It just uses its position and power in a way that makes them a predator. They take a pound of flesh from 10%? of all transactions globally. In many areas they are market leaders. They set prices. They are a major players in all derivatives. The have computers doing stock trading that did not exist 5 years ago and is now 70% of the market.
They coin money. Rarely do they have a net loss. Yes many Goldmanites do charitable things and are very nice folks. But advertising their good deeds in the middle of the woods shows me that this deed was done with the obective of leaving a mark behind. The mark was not the wood chips. The mark was the sign.
How's this: LOW RENT
That's success?
Being familiar with the history of GS since its inception, and having read every article written about GS in more than several languages, I would definitely and unequivocally state that cheating was involved.
Not unintended consequences. Not coincidence. CHEATING....
Or, back-handed, bad faith manipulation at the very least.
I'm curious - did you correct the girl and point out that Washington shares substantial blame, and many would argue more blame, than Wall Street for both the Great Depression and the Great Recession?
Further, call it whatever you want, the description of the volunteer group that did the work sounds like it is Goldman employees who donated time (not money) to work on the trail. I don't trust Goldman, don't do business with them, and don't want to work there... but, it seems a little misguided to disparage individuals who are donating their time to make improvements, however temporary, to an area that you enjoy. And the "tax" argument is lame, nor does it likely even apply in this case - if people want to give, and the government has provided some tax incentive to do so - why are you harping on the giver?
So Bruce, how many wood chips have you spread?
Plenty. And I don't have and don't want a brass plaque in the woods to prove I am good guy.
Thanks Bruce
Charity from the heart requires no advertising.
"Charity" by advertising is simply advertising.
since when has charity been the job of corporations anyway?
what are the charities doing, trading stocks?
the Chinese have a word...it's been many years so forgive me since I know this isn't quite right but as I recall it was called "Welteshuang" which translated as either "connections" or "relationships." Very powerful term with very powerful meanings. This is where my "conspriracies" stop--these are "relationships"--far deeper and with greater meaning than mere conspriracies. Of course this is what Goldman has..."connections" or "relationships." Powerful things and never to be trifled with. "They bend you." Evil? Call it what you will...it is to be respected. The question of course is "do we respect it going forward"? I would say this: wolves are alive and well in Wisconsin. I've seen one in person myself. They are surprisingly huge. If you wish you may travel to an island on Lake Superior where they live "in numbers." I recommend it. It is one of your National Parks no less although getting there is an adventure unto itself.
"Guanxi" is the Chinese term for the kind of connections to which you refer.
I believe you are looking for weltanschauung which is German and means world view or outlook. But your point is well-made.
They should start selling hats logoed and colored bright gold as "GS" or "Goldman" so we hunters wearing our orange hats know where to aim.
In my state -Colorado, a lot of the money to fixup state land comes from the hunting license fees, not sure how much comes from corporate?
I don't know what it is, but Goldman rubs a lot of people the wrong way. To be fair, part of this is jealousy. After all, as much as you hate them, Goldman set the standard on Wall Street where everyone tried to emulate them. They have some of the smartest people working there, but they still manage to piss people off. Go figure.
Is that the smartest or most corrupt people in the financial industry called, WallStreet. It is easy for anybody to get rich when you culture your employees to be Fed and Treasury staffers and then to expoit that position to garnish your company with the governments money. I guess it is smart if you own the printing press too. What say they, follow the money. Hmmmmm. Maybe some of this is worth repeating.Hank Paulson, (X-CEO), and Neel Kashkari, ( X-Vice President), both of Goldman Sachs who got their jobs at the treasury to manipulate public opinion so Goldman could be bailed out. All in 2008. They engineered the bailout structure through AIG, (also bankrupt),(also got 85 Billion), to give another 700 billion to all who lost money. Including foreign banks like LYG, RBS, UBS, BCS, HBC and many others. Goldman was bankrupt. Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of GS when this happened got record pay bonuses for past performance when they needed bailed out. HUH. Bonuses for what. Another interesting factoid is that John Snow, (former executive of GS), left the Treasury so Hank could also bail out John Snow’s Chrysler Corp. Did Chrysler really need the money or was it just a hand out to old buddies. Goldman are squids sucking the life out of the lower middle class of America. Now Neel Kashkari, (let’s say Goldman), wants to Steal Social Security, they never quit legalized stealing from the poor of America. They do make those who earn less than 50k a year poorer, since most Americans do not even make that much. They are addicts. This bailout, was the biggest THEFT to taxpayers of this decade. I don’t think they can beat this, unless they do get away with stealing Social Security. What I can’t understand is why so many want to cover up this bailout, brush it aside, forward the blame to others, and change the topic. Are we, Americans, so short minded and forget so soon. I know the media brainwashes us, but Geezzzzz.
Well, "Fabulous Fab" didn't do the firm any favors with his let-them-eat-cake attitude, talking about " poor little subprime borrowers will not last so long!!!" and seeing himself "standing in the middle of all these complex, highly leveraged, exotic trades he created without necessarily understanding all of the implications of those [sic] monstrosities."
To me, he's the very face of this firm - a simpering euro-pansy who makes millions for his amorality, but isn't intelligent enough to to spell the King's English properly. I know we're not supposed to advocate violence against FIRE here, but it sure wouldn't bother me if he sat on a very sharp stick. Repeatedly.
Even Jim Cramer's kid pointed out that when you have to pay a $550m fine to the government, ur doin' it rong.
But anyway, Conrad Murray said it all.
I don't think it is jealousy.
When you prance around with your nose up preaching to everyone how your firm sets the gold standard of Wall Street professionalism, ethics, best practices, you get castrated when caught with your hand in the public till---particularly if you insist your model is flawless and you say you are doing God's work.
Blankfein could not have done a better job of piloting his firm into the negative PR storm.
The unfortunate thing is that in the eye's of the world, we as a country have committed the same sin.
That "God's work" comment was completely over the top.
Shows Blankfein is so arrogant he doesn't even realize when he's making a classist statement.
Not just over the top..... It was the last vestige of the thin veneer of civilisation peeling away from society.
No joke. When they found it expedient, Kings of yore did to throw those far too openly enjoying the rape of the commoners to the wolves for lack of false public humility.
"I don't know what it is"........"Goldman set the standard on Wall Street where everyone tried to emulate them"
Please provide GPS coordinates of the sign...
MAIDEN LANE CHRONICLES
http://williambanzai7.blogspot.com/2010/09/maidenlane-chronicles.html
"The Poisonous Mushroom" is a timeless classic whose renaissance is long overdue.
The run the New world Order for the Federal Reserve and the illuminate.
We are all their property and we are to be exploited. Bush and Obama are all the same.
Don't know who junked you pach, perhaps a troll from ADL or AIPAC. One day America will wake up and understand.
Thanks for the invigorating walk through the park, Bruce. That takes care of my exercise for the weekend. And it was gratifying just seeing how Goldman was putting my tax dollars to work, even if it was all washed away.
Now, maybe all the Goldmans living high at 15 Central Park West (location, location, location) in their posh bailout-subsidized condos overlooking Central Park will invite us all up out of the snow this Christmas, just to ogle what we’re upkeeping there. Lloyd and Laura Blankfein’s penthouse duplex, the one they bought for $26 million FRBNs – give or take a few -- in 2008, would be a good start. I mean, it has six-and-a-half bathrooms; they must be expecting us. And there’s the private dining room in that Manhattan limestone behemoth where Llo and Lau can pack up to 60 guests, and a professional kitchen with a full-time private chef for our simple needs, and 29 guest suites with temperature-controlled wine cellars…
I mean, this place is advertised as “selling a lifestyle.” All we want to see is the lifestyle we’re buying. Maybe we could all chip in for a building plaque, something like: 15 CPW / improved and sustained by / American Historic Bailout TaxWorks / 2008 – 2010.
Or better yet:
We Hate Goldman!
"Every year since
1997,
in partnership with 833 nonprofit community partners worldwide,
Goldman Sachs people along with their family and friends have given a day to giveback to the communities where we work and live. To date, we have had 143,605 volunteer participants in 9,427 projects. We assisted 250,100 youth, 112,248 adults, 32,519 elderly,224,446 persons with disabilities/special needs and 23,995 animals; painted 159 murals; renovated and helped build 1,442 community buildings/homes and 107 playgrounds; beautified 59 beaches; planted 822 gardens and 126,811 trees and flowers; delivered and served 98,451 meals; packaged 1,850,135 lbs. of food; beautified 8,993 acres of land."
LOL, I'm going to make myself a plaque to brag about all the nice people my tax dollars have supported/bailed out!
Undeserving Pockets
Improved by
American Taxpayers
Everyday, and Especially in
Oct. 2008
AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Sounds like (3 fingers pulling on earlobe, thence tapping on forearm) .....
Saved or Created *Fill in the Blank* Bazillion Jobs Since Last Weekend's Butterfly Deep Fry Competition and Acorn Funding Rallaye.
In Hell, some people are gonna meet the same fate as Stephen Hawking without the respect.
Bruce, did you happen to notice whether or not the tree to which it was nailed died of shame at any point? LOL, Blankfein is such a fuck.
Oops, my bad...looks like a free-standing sign. In that case, I'd bet that the earth into which it's stuck is salted, sterile and dry.
One major difference between Wall Street and Wolves:
Wolves have a code of honor and it's strictly enforced.
yes, and i imagine they don't derive great joy from watching their elders die in agony as you said you do.
Most of MY elders are already dead.
Reading comprehension is great skill. Right up there with understanding sarcasm. Try overclocking your head and see if you can get improved performance.
yes you described how you enjoyed watching and even paying to prolong their agonized deaths.
maybe you should look up sarcasm...maybe you mean hyperbole? extreme black humour? i don't know, but it sure wasn't sarcasm
i'm not surprised you are backtracking though, it made you look pretty sick.
still have my doubts.
Why do Goldman have a Community team when they are destroying the Community.Or do they destroy and profit from the community during the week and if some poor sod hasn,t earned $****************** during the week he is sent off to do this kind of stuff and make it look as if GS actually care.
Same reason the Fed has a Markets team.
And why the White House has a team for the Economy. Just Because you are wrecking something, doesn't mean one must be disorganized about it!
I will propose a (demonstrably unfashionable) option: Perhaps not every person working for That Firm is a monster. (actually, some get quested here on ZH) Perhaps one of them lived int he neighborhood, used the trail, and decided to try and hit up his employers' "community team" for a contribution. Heck may have been part of an in-company competition – 'who can come up with the best charitable notions, in/for their own locality?'
I have worked for deeply evil firms before, without succumbing to their belief system. I imagine others can as well. I remind all that charity is one of the base principles of critical thought.
End (less popular) rant.
Nice wolf picture.
Lighten up a bit.
As a case of life further imitating art, doesn't another of the signs read "3 miles to the BP trail"?
Good rant Bruce.
Speaking of wolves...I think I have one (at least one) around here. They are not supposed to be here where I'm at...wolves are supposed to be extinct here...I thought it was a coyote and put the .06 scope on him...right behind his shoulder...I'm thinking damn he's big...maybe a cross between a coyote and a dog I thought.
No I didn't.
We need more wolves in our lives, not less.
What does it say about people when they make their self-congratulatory plaque to be more enduring than the deed that it celebrates?
Well, the foundation the plaque is attached to does appear to cracking already ;-)