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Where Have All The Zero Hedge Veterans Gone, Long Time Passing?
Where Have All The Zero Hedge Veterans Gone, Long Time Passing?
By
Cognitive Dissonance
Imagine if you will for just a few moments that we reside within a small town in America or Europe or anywhere else in the world for that matter. The physical location isn’t important because we’re talking about a virtual world. Our community consists of several thousand residents of mixed race, creed and color and we are united mostly by our desire to hear and speak truth in a world nearly devoid of it. Many of us have been looking for exactly this type of safe haven for a very long time and can scarcely believe our eyes when we first stumble in from the wasteland.
In so many ways our little town is our cherished refuge from a world gone mad with corrupt central governments bent on exploitation and self destruction. Rarely does a day go by when we don’t leave our cozy homes to visit the town square and discuss the founder’s latest observations as well as the day’s news and events. Often we speculate on what’s coming round the bend and even catch up with a few old friends now and then. Home is where the heart is and for many of us home is Zero Hedge.
Most of our fellow residents are known to us by sight and nickname, but only a few do we know well enough that we would expose ourselves on a personal level and engage in a lengthy and sometimes deeply heartfelt conversation. Conversations I might add that are normally reserved only for those we truly trust in the “real” world. And yet amazingly these discussions are conducted out in the open and in full view of the world, virtual or otherwise.
But aside from these few friends the rest of the inhabitants living in our community are considered casual acquaintances or workplace friends, someone we know well enough to discuss local and national politics or even economics, but not much else. That doesn’t mean we don’t love our town and our neighbors because deep down we all share a special bond. We are all on the vanguard of truth speaking and for many of us this is a novel experience. On the surface we are very secretive yet surprisingly quite open. Zero Hedge is uniquely different by design.
Of course, there’s a very good reason why our community is constructed in this unusual manner. A shield of invisibility separates you and me from everyone else, a barricade of anonymity that was intentionally erected to provide a sense of safety and security for all, mainly because our community is surrounded by hostile and often unseen forces. The anonymity was and is designed to shield everyone in such a way as to enable frank and open conversations that would otherwise be stifled if conducted out in the open and among the antagonistic. And for the most part the community’s design has been a rousing success, particularly for the founder Tyler Durden and the rest of the fight club core who regularly use the town square as a bully pulpit to speak truth to power. The group’s anonymity forces those who would attack Tyler in order to restrain or bury free speech by way of ad hominem smears and personality bashing to either ignore Tyler’s message or confront it using verifiable facts and logical argument. In general the community has grown rapidly as both veterans, who were here when the first cornerstones were laid, and later arrivals cheer on the daily disclosures and running commentary. Speaking truth to power has never been so satisfying while still tinged with some inner fear. In some ways Zero Hedge has become our confidant, our mentor, our analyst and our sanity. Personally I consider it my own Radio Free Zero Hedge, a beacon shining bright during these increasingly dark nights. But some of our veterans have been stealing off into the night with barely a whispered farewell or even a quick explanation for their disappearance. Unfortunately this is where the community’s anonymity works against us. Other than the few occasions where residents have willingly dropped their masks and now conduct private conversations outside the confines of the community, there is very little discourse among the residents other than what is conducted within the town square. Thus there is no effective way of discovering where all our missing veterans have gone.
So in some respects our town is missing a part of its heart and soul, that intangible something that brings together divergent parts to create a living breathing community. While Tyler Durden is without question the voice and creator of Zero Hedge the activist and truth speaker, we the residents know remarkably little about our own community. Our town recently celebrated its two year anniversary and while there was much to cheer, I for one have been feeling for some time that something important is missing.
While every blog has its own personality and feel, over the course of time the readers generally get to know quite a bit about the blogs founder through editorials and conversation. The creator’s initially thin voice is slowly filled in with deeper tones and tenor and the body is fleshed out with substance and color. The voice becomes a personality, then for some it becomes a friend.
While Tyler renders an opinion within the text of nearly every one of his postings, his opinion is nearly always limited to the subject matter at hand and rarely do we get to glimpse even a snippet of Tyler the person. Most likely this is done because he wishes to remain totally anonymous and considering the explosive nature of some of his disclosures, I can’t say I blame him one iota. But this does leave a vacuum of sorts within the fabric of the community and so the herd will naturally seek its own substitute.
In contrarian communities such as ours where we’re all bucking the trend and swimming against the tide, there is often great emotion bubbling just beneath the surface. Our town isn’t just a financial blog; it’s a calling, a movement, an event, the place to go where contrarian views aren’t the exception but the norm. While Zero Hedge started out as an obscure hangout for financial nerds and wonks it quickly morphed into a place of inspiration and refuge. Along the way some of the residents have developed small followings or even minor cults, becoming community leaders plucked from the crowd by natural selection.
While some of these personalities are relatively new, several have been with Zero Hedge since the beginning. And many are now gone, missing in action, A.W.O.L. I don’t wish to imply that there’s skullduggery or grand mystery behind the disappearance of our veterans. After careful thought I think it’s something simpler, reasons that revolve around what Zero Hedge was and what it has now become. And ultimately something else that is well beyond the control or influence of this blog and which is beginning to spread within the general population.
While I’m in occasional email contact with two of the missing veterans, for the most part I have no direct knowledge of the reasons for their absence, only my supposition and gut instinct. Of the two I talk to on occasion, their reasons for leaving are obviously deeply personal and I won’t pry. But after recently flirting with the idea of leaving Zero Hedge myself, I believe I may have some insight into why some leave and come back while others leave and never look back. Let me try to explain what I think is happening.
At times it appears as if Zero Hedge resides within a time warp or rift. Tyler and company produce such a blinding stream of posts that often it’s difficult to remember what was discussed yesterday let along last week, month or year. Because of this linear rush of time, rarely do we sit back and consider what Zero Hedge was, only what it is now. This is one of the missing pieces I mentioned earlier, the critical element of perspective and history from the residents point of view that’s not part of the mix.
All communities have a sense of history and continuity which acts as a binding agent, tying the past to the present and which the residents take with them as they walk into the future. This is done with a combination of books, oral histories, community days and events, impromptu gatherings of friends over beers and so on. During times of community stress, it is this history as a group that is relied upon to sooth rattled nerves and smooth out life’s bumps and bruises.
While there is most certainly a singleness of purpose and deed within Zero Hedge, it is primarily Tyler’s show along with the occasional penetrating contributor. For the community at large, we are mostly spectators and hanger-on’s with varied opinions and sharpened elbows. While many are satisfied with the Rugby style discourse, I sense in others a desire for a deeper connection, a more intimate and friendly environment, reminiscent of the old Zero Hedge town square when the veterans ruled the roost.
Many of our lost veterans provided breadth and depth to our conversations as well as a big picture perspective when shouting, hysteria or trolls threatened to overwhelm. While each had his or her unique idiosyncrasies and ideology, nearly all had a strong sense of ownership and protective custody. How many times did we hear a veteran declare “Don’t mess with Zero Hedge because if you do you’re messing with me”? Newbie’s that wandered in from the cold and immediately started whipping their shtick around were quickly slapped side the head and sent to the back of the bus for remedial education.
Like that strong willed but kind uncle who visited during the holidays and whose presence moved the room, our veterans were an important part of the internal control mechanism that all unorganized groups develop as a matter of instinct and survival. Natural leaders emerge and are respected not just for their inherent authority, but because of their common sense approach and fairness even to those they oppose. Thus form and function develops out of chaos and the community coalesces. What was once random noise and movement becomes coherent and comprehensible.
While Tyler has always been the booming voice of Zeus bellowing from atop the Zero Hedge mount, Tyler for the most part is content to let his postings, opinions and biting tongue find their mark. But back when the veterans roamed the land there was another strong presence that is now sadly missing as well. Marla Singer was our Athena or Themis, the community’s Goddess of order, civility and decorum. At your own peril did you mess with Mother Nature for with the flick of her sharp tongue serial transgressors were quickly removed from The Hedge.
Marla wasn’t malevolent, vindictive or even egotistic, thought it was obvious we were dealing with an opinionated intellect that could swallow most of us whole in one single bite. What contributed to her presence and gave her natural authority was her capacity to be playful, self deprecating and wonderfully witty. Her late nights spinning tunes on Radio Zero or her presence in chat did more than anything else to build our budding community identity. None the less, after ample warnings and prods from her big stick, she didn’t suffer fools well and many repeat troublemakers were quickly kicked.
This was a stabilizing force that was the implicit bite behind the veterans bark and thus our small community continued to grow with vigor in part because the roads were swept clean at night. This doesn’t mean Zero Hedge stifled creative thought or energetic disagreement. On the contrary, because the residents knew that well reasoned and logical arguments would be fairly aired while disruptors and airheads would be muffled, Zero Hedge quickly became known as the place to come for thoughtful discourse and stimulating against-the-grain ideas.
We sometimes forget how radical Zero Hedge was perceived as being back in the day. Early on in its development concepts such as manipulated precious metal markets, stealth Fed pumping or the Plunge Protection Team, all factual reality that had been tirelessly trumpeted for years by a small cadre of truth speakers, were laughed at outside the contrarian community as the ranting of the delusional.
Then Zero Hedge and other dedicated blogs and alternative media sites joined together in singing the song, adding their considerable weight and influence to these issues and pushing them to the front of the news cycle. What was formerly verboten is now accepted even by the mainstream media as a given and an integral part of the overall black matrix.
So where have all the veterans gone, long time passing? Why would they leave when we’re beginning to lever open some locked doors and we’re breaking through the wall of lies? The most obvious reason is that the community has changed and, at least in the eyes of some of the veterans who have left, for the worse. There is little doubt that change has occurred though much of it is a function of growth and popularity and thus just a fact of life. If you’re selling something that’s in demand, in this case financial and political truth, you’re going to suffer growing pains as you scale up to fill the vacuum.
But the civility and camaraderie, the sense of ownership and protective custody that I talked about earlier, is now missing or at least greatly diminished. While Tyler specially and Zero Hedge in general have always told us that they have no obligation to moderate the comment section, the presence of Marla in the early days acted as a de facto moderator creating an artificial environment that as it turned out wasn’t sustained. As Marla slowly withdrew from active participation, civility and order withdrew as well to the point where today obvious and self described trolls and disruptors have taken up permanent residence within what was formerly considered safe territory.
However I don’t think this alone was enough to disenfranchise all the missing veterans though I sure it was for some. There appears to be another more important and seldom discussed dynamic at play here that works hand in hand with the community changes and which the blog is not responsible for in the least. What is rarely discussed within the contrarian community in general and among the truth speakers in particular is a concept or phenomenon that I call truth speaker’s fatigue.
Similar to disaster charitable giving fatigue, truth speakers fatigue is at its core about lost hope and belief. The person afflicted often feels that after investing considerable emotional and intellectual capital, little or no headway has been made and the methods used appear to be useless. Since the initial effort was driven almost exclusively by emotional adrenaline and with little thought to specific strategy and measurable outcomes, it is easy to lose momentum after several perceived defeats, emphasis on perceived.
As I said earlier, many of us have been wandering the wilderness for years recognizing something was terribly wrong, but not knowing specifically what was wrong let alone how to deal with it. Suddenly we find Zero Hedge and are infused with a sense of hope and belief. We come to believe that because we are surrounded by like minded individuals and are stronger as a group we might finally be effective and become a force to be reckoned with. Maybe, just maybe we can really make a difference and slow down or even stop the insanity.
Becoming involved with speaking truth openly and repeatedly, particularly if it’s our first time, can be a powerful and intoxicating elixir which often leads to flights of unrealistic expectations and unreasonable goals. I speak as one of experience, having drunk heavily from the cup on a few occasions. One is infused with a sense of power and destiny after seeing that many of man’s problems can easily be rectified by clear thinking, honesty and awareness. What we fail to fully grasp early on is that we come by this knowledge via desperation and a sincere desire to stop our own internal pain and suffering.
While our intent is genuine and heartfelt, over time and after repeated disappointments that our disclosers are making little headway, we slowly come to the realization that not only are there many powerful forces trying to bury the truth, but that those who would most directly benefit from the truth, our fellow sufferers, are among the most difficult to shake awake. This is the cut that is the deepest of them all, the ugly realization that they simply aren’t ready to sever the ties that bind themselves to their own misery.
This understanding is similar to waking one day and realizing deep within your soul that you married the person next to you for all the wrong reasons and that now it is over and never really was. Or that after many years of climbing the corporate ladder, you suddenly realize no happiness or fulfillment will ever be found where you just spent half your life working. Faced with the realization that little progress has been made in breaking through the never ending lies and finding themselves emotionally spent to boot, I suspect several veterans simply gave up and faded back into the black abyss.
Similar to the turmoil of a midlife crisis, a few may never recover from this devastating loss of faith and will wander aimlessly and without purpose, discarding first their career, then their family and finally themselves. Others try desperately to reinsert themselves back into the Matrix, swallowing again and again every blue pill within reach in a hopeless and ultimately futile quest for the blessed ability to just forget. Still others will sink into abject apathy as a form of emotional self protection.
And then there are those who after much soul searching and anguished debate come to understand that the problem isn’t really out there but rather within. After two or three internal renegotiations and subsequent scaling back of expectations that always lead to additional failure, we come face to face with the second ugly truth, that it is our ego we are wrestling with, that we could not save even ourselves let alone the world.
It was our pain that led us to seek truth and it was our pain we wish removed by spreading the truth. While we expressed the desire to make the world better, it was ultimately for our own benefit that we wished it rebuilt. As with the unloved spouse or unfulfilled career, we were laboring for all the wrong reasons and thus futilely spinning our wheels.
If this shocking revelation can be internalized and then accepted, only then do we begin the next phase of our journey of truth, one where the reason and intent for our action is now squarely aligned with our expectations. We now know that we are here only to work on ourselves. If by chance others happen by and grab onto the life raft we now occupy, this is a wonderful bonus but not by intent or design.
Now properly sized for the next leg of our journey and thoroughly busy digging deeper within, we discover one of the ultimately liberating truths. Whereas before when attempting to spread awareness and awakening, in the eyes of those still sleeping we appeared frightening and threatening. All we really had to offer was the opportunity for them to witness their own pain and suffering without the benefit of a numbing agent or self administered anesthesia, hardly an attractive package even when it is offered for free.
Now that we are engaged in traveling our own path of self centering and discovery, first of ourselves and then our place in the world, involuntarily and unconsciously we begin to exude strength and confidence. Suddenly we become an attractor, an example of what can be. Now we have substance to offer others which leads to greater happiness and inner peace. Since we are no longer forcing anything upon others, but instead we now own and wear what everyone else desires, now we are seen as valuable and attractive. This inner knowing cannot be taught or passed on, only found within and then tried on.
If at this point we choose to pick back up the truth speaking baton we quickly find that we are vastly more effective. While the necessity to overcome the lies is still there, we no longer project a sense of urgency or even desperation that was present before and which the sleep walkers sensed both consciously and unconsciously. Whereas before we were perceived to be a threat to their apathy and feigned indifference now the sleep walker senses our inner calm and stability while hearing the same information as before.
With their internal barrier to what we are saying now softened or even withdrawn, we have a more receptive audience rather than defensive or even hostile. While this alone doesn’t mean they will actually awaken, it does mean the seed has been planted in a more fertile and hospitable environment. Just as you and I needed repeated exposure to the truth before we began to wake from the dream, so will they. But now the process has started and the bridge to awareness is at least in sight.
I don’t know if any of the missing veterans, or anyone else on Zero Hedge for that matter, has left under the circumstances I just described. But firsthand experience working with others in various truth movements, along with conversations with friends who are walking similar paths, tells me that I’m most likely close to the truth with at least a few. If we could question our missing veterans as to why they are no longer around, I suspect each would have specific reasons for their departures. And while on the surface I’m certain all their reasons may be valid, we all tell ourselves stories in order to bury the bitter and unspeakable truth.
Does any of what I have written ring true with you or can you indentify with any part of this essay? I read the comment section of Zero Hedge on a daily basis and from my perspective there are many residents who are walking wounded and who are depressed and in denial about it. I have come to understand that any pain I may be feeling is a loud and clear signal that something’s wrong and that I need to change direction. My pain is not to be avoided but rather respected for what it is, a message that I’m not sized right and that I need to refocus within.
Ultimately we are ineffective in any endeavor we may engage in and we might even be damaging to ourselves and those around us if we are in pain and in denial about our need for treatment. This would be all too obvious if our legs were broken, but for some reason it’s completely lost on us if we are spiritually broken. Ultimately in order to heal it doesn’t matter where you’ve been or where you are now. A wise man once told me that what’s important in life isn’t so much that you’re on the correct path, but rather if deep down inside you there’s a desire to be on the correct path. Once the student is ready, the teacher will always appear. The search for answers always begins within.
Cognitive Dissonance
01-24-2011
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This site is better than Starbucks for a social meeting spot and like the Hotel California, once you check in it never leaves you (I am sure veterans still check in and read articles and some comments).
There is more truthiness at ZH than in the rest of the blogosphere and msm combined, but that is a threat to the establishment and it is clear the comments have become over run with paid propagandists. Not sure who they think they are fooling since it is so apparent (and therefore a waste of taxes). Note to Tyler, a filter system or just kicking out known trolls would make it possible to navigate comments more effectively. Also, there is no balance since stories are mostly negative and even the feedback is only negative (only flag as junk with no approval). That is a good way to only attract negative half is glass empty people. But then again, perhaps that could be part of a plan to attract and highlight individuals of interest that could be a threat, I do not know. Within one comment stream, responses could be limited to X (5 max, perhaps an exception for the author).
I understand how the whole financial system works and filled in gaps thanks to the collective consciousness of specialists within ZH. Once you understand the monetary system, everything falls into place and makes sense.
I said early on that we are actually only suffering a crisis of confidence, a loss of trust as the character of leaders has morphed into a cast of characters with principles that boil down to self interest. To restore confidence, regulatory authorities and government must enforce the rule of law. Private property is the basis for all human rights, without it you have no rights. I want everyone here to know that and repeat it because selectively enforced laws result in tyranny. Many in authority positions can just be manipulated towards agendas through bribes or blackmail. The way this ends is that ownership of assets defaults into the hands of those that own a printing press. It is that simple and it's being used as a formula for world domination.
International debt slavery can create "leverage", and that may be better than all power being from the end of a gun but there are many negative effects. Right now B.B., PPT, and Primary Dealers are the primary buyers of financial assets, and prices are what they say they are. Price is now a function of how much liquidity is injected along with hot money flows, sector rotation, opex games, and pump & dump schemes (also in reverse). These illegal activities could be coordinated across firms. Derivatives are supposed to be a derivative of an underlying asset, but they can now manipulate the underlying with the derivatives (which are not regulated). The price of many assets are highly manipulated, and the volatility is gamed by option writers and market makers pocketing spreads on stop limits.
The Fed is owned by its member banks, and the greater the national debt the higher the profits (some is returned to the treasury while a portion goes to the fed and their banks). It is not federal and reserves is questionable. Since the Fed is owned by the larger TBTF banks, it operates for their benefit. Having the Fed in charge of financial regulation is like letting the fox watch the hen house. Also, government participates for both special interest lobby money and systematically because they rely on the financial system for tax revenues and have unfortunately let the expertise reside in the fed and banks so they are always taking the lead (without having a well balanced counter weight). Also, self interest is normal, we are all self interested, which is why you need a balance of power and a system to ensure fairness (3 branches of government). Finance has been able to game the system to its advantage by printing paper (not audited) and then handing it out to others if they do as they request. Morals are in fact an impediment to the financial system as politicans with morals would be less likely to take bribes (those with skeletons can be blackmailed, more maleable).
Also, our dollar is backed by the US military and oil (both related). Tension in a region is a good reason for the US to be the police officer and ensure peace and protect oil lanes. This should free up other countries to put their resources into the butter side while the US funds the guns (peace dividend). Weimar and Zimbabwe are ridiculous comparisons because they were not world reserve currencies with the strongest military.
Rant off, veterans would have heard all of this, but I felt I should share after CD's piece considering newbies might be trying to piece all of this together. this place is awesome for venting and sharing information gleaned over the years.
A.N.
One of the members whose comments I make it a point to read!
GREAT to see you again!! And thanks for the summary.
Excellent.
NOW THAT'S A PRIMER!!
I like what you said Apocalypse Now ,"Weimar and Zimbabwe are ridiculous comparisons because they were not world reserve currencies with the strongest military." and, this is why the US debt hasn't been downgraded.
CD - as usual, excellent post. I've been reading since the start, though never really post. I do all of my computing on an iPhone, so it's just a pain in the ass to type.
You can't collect much data, since you are unable to contact most of the posters you miss. So all you can effectively do is make hypotheses without proof.
A longshot is that someone who has such a contact list can convince them or offer them to inform you directly, or indirectly thru their posts.
My theory that the energy expended by these posters is not received back is practically useless to prove out. But it may be related to the anonymity of these posters preventing personal energy exchanges. Another possibility may be just the sheer volume of different responders prevents meaningful dialog, where the effort expended by the potential responders does not significantly return the type of dialog that the poster would appreciate.
From time to time I still read ZH and find their efforts to be patriotic and inspirational. In the early days they inspired my involvement in local and state politics and greatly expanded my understanding of economics and the true nature of wall street. My primary reasons for no longer posting are are as CD discussed in his article...I am tired and discovered my efforts are futile at this stage. Even my closest friends' eyes would glass over at the first mention of CDOs, CDSs, etc. Those that would listen wanted the 30 second recap of how we got here, which if you are reading ZH and posting here, you know days worth of discussion will barely allow you to scratch the surface.
My conclusion is that the masses do not want to know and don't really care. At this chapter of the financial crisis the pain felt has been hypothetical because it affected 401ks etc that are not needed for a decade or two and there is still false hope in Social Security(math can be wrong right). The tangible problems many people have felt have been going from 3 car garages to 2, 4,000 square feet to 2,400, a vacation to the local islands rather than the caribbean. All of these people have learned to adjust and realized those things were not necessary after all. I have grown tired of being chicken little and have come to feel an affinity to that poor tired ridiculed bird. I am inclined these days to let the sky fall, be prepared and only help those willing to be part of the solution as a real community should.
I recall an interview quite a few years ago in which Quentin Crisp was asked what he thought the secret to happiness was. He replied, "A studied indifference to others".
That was a revelation for me and I stopped trying to convince anyone of anything. I will help if possible, if someone is truly confused or ambivalent about our society and our economy. I don't, however, go out of my way to mount a soapbox and preach. It's totally unproductive.
Crisp's comment does not say to ignore or discount people in general; it speaks of a "studied indifference". Those 2 words make the philosophy workable. And he should certainly know about that.
Turd Ferg is currently experiencing truth seekers burnout Cog Dis. It truly sinks my solar plexus that he would set himself a self-sacrifice day where he walks to his own constructed gallows to de-hedge himself from zerohedge and backpack bomb his own blog in a ego-twisted way. Today, I clicked on some of his ad-links, as I do for ZH after clearing my cookies. Nobody really needs the pity, but the burn out must be amazing. If Turd is reading this, please take a break, stop posting for a few days like Harvey Organ does. Be easy on yourself and don't let yourself get in the way of changing your mind. Who cares what wagers you place against your own hopes of justice and anger. Remember, you can't change the color of a single hair on your head by thoughts alone. Perhaps you might provide your nemesis a little more credit for manipulative depth, force a smile across your face to have some fun with it, imagine the incredible lengths that TPTB will go to elongate their reign, and emancipate yourself even more than what you've given wordspeak to regarding the charts. In a perverse and strangely honest way, the joy of experience can be enhanced more about contrast if you allow it to be, no matter how dire. You can't force anything in its most ultimate sense to happen exactly when you want it.
I sit back, contribute little more than a baby spoonful, and plecosteomus the thoughts of others at hyper-speed. I feel a sort of guilt to tell you truth. I see the gekko, cheeky, chumba surf in once in awhile, but I don't see the likes of mako lurking anymore, as well as a few other of my favs.
As far as the trollolicious monkeymaricons that haunt the hedge, just cut and paste some rote answer. Also, some of these trolls, serve a purpose to an extent. Sometimes I'm rather troll-like, I try not to, but my vernacular and sense of sarcasm is really quite demented.
Thanks to all for their input, and thanks to you Cog Dis for having a level head, decent patience, and the lack of a venomous tongue.
I suspect the "passing" is an unavoidable side effect of the chosen focus of this forum.
For this is a forum built in deviance. And I don't man that in a slacious way; I mean deviance of thought. The willingness, nay, eagerness, to embrace the notion that conventional wisdom is wrong.
Nothing wrong with that. Trouble is, the concept of "leadership" invariably includes a certain amount of what the Romans called gravitas. Again, nothing wrong with that. BUT, in forum that feels obligated to hype (nearly) every conspiracy theory that comes up, even the ones that are trivial to refute, anyone capable of gravitas is likely to eventually lose interest.
Think of it as tool wear. The patience of potential leaders, of whatever mettle, can be abraded by having to constantly contradict the same things over and over again. 'There are a million silly notions on the naked internet', and they will inevitably tire of being called on to edit all of them. Providing "adult supervision" is a serious chore; normally only parents (equipped by nature with a certain predisposition) are expected to put up with it for any length of time. So they drift off. The bad drives out the good.
I don't have a solution for you. Until society smartens up (= not anytime soon), the wear rate will not abate. And when it does, well, this forum will be obsolete, won't it?
I often wondered where folks got to, starting with Currently Smoking Cannibis at calculatedrisk, a hilarious motherfucker who upped and vanished one day. Much like Wal$treetPro2 did in August 2009.
But fuck the why. What this place needs is story problems, not mere math questions. The comment section has turned into a Greyhound station.
I was part of a chat site on Futuresource back in the mid 90's. In the course of a year or so it went from a reasoned and polite discourse on trading futures to a snarling pack of animals. The two or three experienced members, who were trying to educate the unwashed were soon insulted and shouted down. The just seemed to finally realize that it was just futile to cast pearls before swine. Leonardo and Cage, if you are still out there, thank you, I learned alot!
sellstopjl
denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance
Hey CD,
You may not realize this, but I've been here from the beginning. I always liked your insights, but I think you're romanticizing some of the old timers. Many of them were not particularly insightful. It's nice that you grew fond of them, but I wasn't. Too many of them were pseudo-sophisticates who thought they could prosper in a crumbling empire. They were disillusioned.
Tyler once wrote, "The only way to save the financial system is paradoxically, its destruction..." That line resonated with me. It made me proud to be an active member, but I can'y say for how much longer that will be true. You see CD, we really are doomed and I don't think there's anyone who can do anything about it. The corruption is mind-numbing and I'm tired of discussing it. How long should you argue that the Earth revolves around the Sun?
I've quadruple-checked the math, proven it to myself again and again, tried to wake others up. Now, I need to prepare my family for the days that are to come as best I can, arguing with trolls is pretty low on my priorities list.
Nothing's ever going to be what it used to be, you have to accept that.
Peace
Well the right thing might be to continue to narrate the crime. I have yet to find any education close to ZH on the Web. Preparing and taking care of your family is not mutually exclusive; unless you will never have an internet connection again.
I know a lot about finance and markets but I have always found ZH to be informative beyond my day-to-day focus. And you're not going to find ZH content on shill sites like Bloomberg or the WSJ. I also like ZH becasue I can't kid myself that I am usually the "smartest guy in the room." It is simply not the case here; and bring the insults, I can take them!
I'm hoping people keep the faith here. And I can ignore the momentum simpletons who add nothing to my thought process...
No one has narrated the crimes better than ZH, no one. I am so proud to have been a microscopic part of that, but I am quite sure that will continue with or without me.
There's a whole lot of sharp pencils here.
mm +1
excellent comments
all this happens in high school and any other scene.. it breaks away.. even if you had all the old timers writing long excellent comments, who could read it all?? so many people new and old cloud the comments with two bit comments (me included) that it is becoming noise..
just like many early users of drugs that go on and do great things, they realized that once you get the message, you can put down the phone and act on it..
Not letting anons post was a backward step.
Regards.
Largely spot on. First time I left was for personal reasons. Working upwards of 90-100 hours a week for a extended period got me questioning my existence and of course kept me off ZH (And not suicide, more running off to be a mountain man). I took a break recently and will probably stop again after this post for a bit when I realized something, I'm not learning from the debates I have here. I love to argue points to refine myself and my knowledge/beliefs and I realized that to many arguments the other side tapered off or resorted to "Your facts are right, and the reasoning makes sense, but your still wrong". Call me selfish but if I get into a discussion I want to learn something. My time is worth something and God knows that between work and school I could be more productive then using my free time to argue on the internet with trolls.
Also the amount of trolls is getting silly. And I mean on all sides both the pro and anti gold trolling is just ridiculous. I used to enjoy the comments now it feels like a chore to read through the mindless profanity and personal attacks them to find the gems. Still love the articles but there has been a change in the discourse.
Shameful, your postings are always a learning experience for me. You are one of the few I go looking for. Mikla, being another favorite of mine usually posts at the top of a contribution, usually Bruce's, then more times then not will leave it alone. I can understand your frustration with the trolls, ZH was at its best the time when they banned the anonymous posters. I know I'm being selfish myself but I'm hoping to see you around, at least some.
That is the real misfortune of the veteran's departure. They often had a clearer and more concise view of reality with regards to the economic/political situation, which was a great learning opportunity. Shameful, I've often read your arguments with other posters. Your intelligence is gargantuan, and I'm often able to take a lesson or two from what you're saying, in addition to gaining a few words to look up on investopedia. The best thing is, you're not the only one. What I'm getting at is that with the veterans leaving, myself and the other young bloods around here are unfortunately missing an opportunity to learn and grow so that we may some day become the veterans ourselves.
Don't get me wrong here; I'm not trying to say that anyone has an obligation to educate some poor fool on an internet blog. What I am saying is that it was a wonderful opportunity when they were here, and it simply sucks that so many are leaving and have left already.
I can only guess how frustrating it must be for the old schoolers to hang around with the likes of us, especially when so many others have already departed. That is not to mention the deliberate trouble-makers. Sometimes, I can't understand how or why so many of you have remained here for so long, other than you probably absolutely love this place (like me). However, I would like to state that for those of us who truly want to go home each day with more knowledge than we came in with, the wisdom and the lessons of the long time veterans are thoroughly appreciated. Thanks to all of you who have put forth time and effort to make zerohedge great.
Dupe...
GOLD, BITCHES!!
+1
Shameful mentioning that he wanted to refine and learn...that's the center of ZH if you ask me. The warm center.
But you gotta stay up late and attend a lot of meetings. Old coffee. Sob stories.
What's you power animal?
Profanity and other "disappointing" language in the dialectic has degraded site. I used to forward fine articles to friends and family, but sad to say, "no more"...still will scan and read some articles but will skip the commentary. Yes, the veterans are missed but I understand the potential "why" of their departure. Hang in there Tyler!
It's interesting sitting on the edge of humanity. I like to go back to ZH posts on significant days and re-read what people were thinking on the big stories as they were happening. I wish ZH was around for September 18, 2008. I like to imagine that if this blog were around then, the liquidation would have occurred and the bank run on MMMF would have wiped out a lot of people.
But that's really the point now. The perception is affecting the reality of the situation when the situation is nothing more than a confidence game. And so I think a very salient point about this blog and others like it needs to be asked: is the existance of Zerohedge a sign of the end?
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/day-market-almost-died-courtesy-high-fr...
That was a fun day.
http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-world-almost-came-to-end-at-2p...
My favorite all-time ZH post.
It was polite of Paulson and The Bernank not to scream: "We own you lowly turds! Now do what you're told!" Funny watching Paulson answer a question abour priming bank equity while trying not to let his voice crack. But the real comedy is the whole shit-show turned into: "Oh let's just give the banks a blank check!"
CD this is your best ZH piece yet. I applaud you.
Who are you people and where did you come from?
I Rarely login, but am a long, long time lurker.
I fell in love with ZeroHedge because of the contributions by those veterans in the comments section. I appreciate the education they have provided me, someone who is not in finance, but is absolutely fascinated with the subject.
I miss the veterans.
Thank you for writing this, CD. Long time fan of yours.
Greetings CD and fellow ZH campadres!!!
Nice ideas...and there is no place like home...brought together by TD, and forever grateful, this is indeed a home...
ZH, maybe a little like Camelot, but, certainly, the great ideas of Camelot have lasted, and although maybe we are all a bunch of idealists, there is no harm in wanting a world where honesty, justice and fairness prevail, and we can all thank Tyler for this forum which is a bright and shining light for these ideals...words are never enough but, thank you all at ZH!!!
PS CD, you have a writing style that reminds me of the books i read by Rollo May...the journey into the psyche is not one we all can easily (and willingly) traverse and your name, cognitive dissonance, is a constant reminder of why this is so.
more like 'Gangs of New York' than Camelot.
Holy smokes, talking about writer's fatigue, how about reader's fatigue? I'm sure there's an import point in there somewhere, but how about throwing me a bone? I can't read a missive of this length whose putative purpose is Auld Lang Syne. I will tell you this Cognative: in order to read your work, which I value, I can't spend time reading social pieces. Also, just how long does one have to have been a Zero member to count as a veteran? What's more: do I ever return to see what answers have been posted to my thread comments? No. Is that a problem?
Holy shit, CD--you unleashed an avalanche! Nice work.
Funny, I've been wondering why you had taken such a peripheral role here over the past month or so.
or if one were to put on their conspiracy hat, this actually might be a stealth online survey / focus group
Hey CD, well said. It is tough out there but I never give in to the squids. Have been here 1.5 years and donate on a regular basis to keep the truth alive. Zero Hedge does not have to always be right, but it does tell the stories with just the facts and truth. My only fear is that Tyler and staff will reach the wall and move away from us. And yes, I do miss Marla.
The best to all here at Zero Hedge. Mandatory reading.
I think I am a relative veteran and I check ZH almost every day. There's no website like it. Period. Almost time for my annual contribution to help keep the lights on.
Gem Veteran Ned Zeppelin, please never leave us either.
ZH has a value in the many millions of $ but I am certain annual contributions are appreciated none the less.
Maybe the veterans left after taking out Beaker.
Their work was done.
For me, anyway, Signal/Noise at all time lows.
I first ran across this blog before the move to ZH.com, mostly high level economic/financial discussions between people in the know. Two years later, mostly name calling and baiting; you have to look hard for the nuggets now. Even 'googled' "the new zero hedge" last week, looking for the next evolution, but no luck yet.
I visited and stayed because there were lots of people smarter than myself about things I was interested in. I'm still interested, but not learning much from the comments aside from new terms for jew, goldbug, and liberal.
Just like a good fishing hole, you can't brag about it in public.
CD - as usual, excellent post. I've been reading since the start, though never really post. I do all of my computing on an iPhone, so it's just a pain in the ass to type.
I for one am a little miffed that Marla disappeared and was basically scrubbed from the masthead without any explanation. She was downright chatty last radio show a few months ago and then *poof*
Maybe Tyler's new only I can charge shit to the company credit card statement provides some clue.
If I were her I'd be spending some money or building a bunker in Switzerland or something - which she probably is anyway. I'm sure the Sisyphean task of acting Den Mother of the comments section got old fast and at one point she was obviously putting in very long hours (and I bet she put up some capital) -so it's not like I can't figure out how someone of her means and abilities got interested in something different - hell, I don't think she's 35 yet, she's got shit to do...
Obviously there are a bunch of different people who post under Tyler Durden and every once in a while I think something that goes up was penned by her but in the end I don't think she could quite restrain her authentic style from shining through and I dismiss the thought.
It's also possible that she just doesn't want to deal with the hassles/risks of personal exposure anymore. Are there any minor European royals that are even close to being as sharp as her?
Very well put.
she was young... she was not from here... and he grasp, real grasp was limited by both of the facts I have mentioned. I liked her, who doesnt like a woman with that kind of mind, but that doesnt change the other facts. She is missed, for entertainment.. color, yes.
I never left, even after i got banned. I do however, wish i could have apologized to Marla. And everyone else that was around at that time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUWoylfyBkM
"You can say what you like, but it doesn't change anything"
PPT? WTF! That's absurd. PPT is an illusion of your anarchists brain.
The fight club got attention from the very heart of worlds finance markets and right into MSM (Look at Reggie Middleton) .And in the meantime a perversion like a PPT is accepted/priced in in "The Markets" copyright.
Even if a lot of the findings of ZH are true an even if it shows that "The Markets" are heavily manipulated, it also shows that in the end The Bernank is the means to all end.
I discussed all my findings about the abysmal way about "The state of the art of front running markets" with my father, who is investing in equities almost 50 years and his only comment was that inflation is going to rise a lot (this was in March 2010). So I come to believe that technology creates blogs like this but doesn't change TPTB to rule the world, since they do play "the Game" for centuries already. ZH is right that this doens't end well, but as long as the can is kicked down the road, everything is perfect...well until it doesn't. Maybe it takes some some more years until the US Dollar is killed as reserve currency but all empires took a long time to commit suicide.
CD, I love your comments and your passion to stand up and revolt against the Status Quo, but I fear that the younger generation is not able to fight against the status quo. It's opportunism and the young generation is being taken as a hostage that prevents any further disobediance. Because in the end the Mega-Corps give your brethern a future.
CD-great job comme d'habitude.
I sensed this, first time outwardly, with Trav7777, when (s)he a) would scribble over an entire string of comments on the fallacies of the basic economic system's assumptions. Could 'hear' the screaming frustration of each individual who wasn't getting 'it'. Could there be an assumption that assertions made here are communicated to all who are aboard?
otoh, thanks Tyler for not succumbing to truth fatigue.
- Ned
OT-I owe my avatar to a Cheeky comment.
thank you CD, i enjoyed reading your dissertation because i actually find most of my enjoyment of the internet comes from trying to spread the understanding that humanities problems mostly extend from the belief the masses have in the idea of "legitimized coercion." any libertarian understands that coercion is never legitimate... but the state with all of its evil cannot exist if the masses ever realize this.... so i go from here to there, looking for the right space, the "lever point" to interject some kind of obvious truth that forces those who read it to question the notion of "legitimized coercion." i am working very hard right now on a particular private forum that pretty much contains a broad spectrum of participants. if i can get at least one person interested in pursuing the idea of a voluntary society then i will have considered my efforts to be a success. as it seems that i am winning the war of words here, my emotional energy is pretty high at the moment... but the burnout you described does eventually await me, as it does all of us, its just math.
i agree that our community has been invaded with trolls, but that is the price you pay for success. i do not have a ready solution at hand, you cannot create an artificial Marla... maybe this model is outmoded and needs redesign? its the nature of things.