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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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Layne/Miles, IKEA, SWRichmond and Cowbell (who does pop in every so often). Spekulatn too, but mostly Project Mayhem. What a Tour de Force his brain eruptions were! Those are folks I miss from time to time. Got some new favorites too, so it's all good I guess, just a lower S/N ratio.
Project Mayhem, a giant... May he return.
I do see the excellent SWRichmond and Cowbell comment often enough so that I feel they are still with us.
CD, I have been a faithful reader of ZH for well over a year. I only registered a couple of months ago in the anticipation of beginning to post. My timing seemed to correspond with a very pronounced decay in civility in the comments. It's OK to get tough and beat the hell out of the issues, but personal attacks accomplish nothing other than weakening the credibility of the message and the medium.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think moderators would really restore the site and bring back some the original trailblazers.
dudette:
Civility is my number two entry in tomorrow night's shot-game. I'm on the 'under' (in many senses) for this. When did the term 'civility' gain the meme? kinda recent, n'est ce pas?
I can believe that you are saying this--you demonstrate no understanding of what is going on here (at ZH); or I should say your masters understand and are feeding you into the maw. The meatgrinder.
<me muttering: 'decay in civility'>
child, do you understand combat?
- Ned
;-)
Yes...by all means...we must have nanny's and overlords, the rabble must be controlled somehow...it's apparent they can't control themselves...I can't speak for myself...someone else must speak for me!...know my thoughts...do it for me!
I swear, it's almost lost Ned.
I'm goin ta bed and dream of another place I used to know.
SeeYa
I can't believe you are saying this either.
CD as has been said above,as thoughtful as your writing has been,it's heartening to see the response's to it!You got a way of kicking people in the pant's and getting them talking.
Entropy. Oh, and family. Work has some to do with it.
CD, et al, thought you'd enjoy this little ditty:
russell means - welcome to the reservation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LA-S64QY3o&feature=player_embedded
if nothing else, watch the 'patriarchal pyramid' & 'centralization' sections at around the 20:00 mark.
good stuff.
as to the topic at hand, an old adage to consider:
"a watched pot never boils"
sooner or later, we all just have to let it go, yo
People jump in and people jump out, it's like any other social scene or cause. Oh those ancient BB daze, the moss covered zenith of IRC. Its OK to wax melancholy over those former times when things felt fresh and new sub-cultural ideas came into being. Don't get lost in it tho, there is a future of sorts and we should focus on that because people of all sorts have something to offer.
I am new here after falling down the rabbit hole. Without ZH, my suspicions would have remained disturbed and isolated questions. Thank you for helping me understand what lurks in the shadows.
Gold and Silver is nice and yet I offer optimism for Zinc:
http://www.youtube.com/user/zincairinc
After months of lurking in the corner soaking up wisdom and information like a sort of zen sponge, it was CDs works that began to catch my eyes. Often I would simply scan the comments below looking for his avatar. Eventually it dawned on my sometimes too slow brain to register in hopes that someday I would have a reason to add to the stream of information. I also wondered if it would be possible to send a private message if I were registered, just so I could propery thank CD for his work.
Today I have no real meaty thoughts to add, so instead: CD, thank you for your eye opening insights into the hows and whys of the human mind. A simple auto mechanic is very much swimming in deep water while reading on ZH, but your wordsmithing is very much appreciated. What motes of light I've been able to seize from your work have made my world a slightly more understandable place. Thank you.
Maybe Cheeky has succumbed to the health issues that he spoke of in previous posts. I miss him too.
Death & disease were my first thought.
There was a wonderful lady who worked cashier at my local dry cleaner. Would always chat with her whenever I went in. Seemed like she was always there.
Went in before Thanksgiving and she wasn't there. When I went back a week later she still was not there. 3rd time I went back I had to ask where she was.
Beth had died shortly before thanksgiving after a long battle with cancer. I never knew, she never said "i have cancer" She just lived her life until she couldn't.
Life happens, then you die.
Same thing happened to a person I saw regularly. I've been going to the same dentist since the early 1980s. My hygienist was Nancy. Always cheerful and welcoming. Then she was not there. I asked and was told that she had cancer and would not be returning. She died only a few weeks later. After over 20 years! Quite a shock. I was at least 15 years older than she. Life becomes clearer because of death.
Had a Waitress in my "Home trucstop" who knew exactly what I would want to order depending on time of day, week and night when I show up. In exchange she told me of her cancer and I provided support.
One day they buried her up on the hill and that was the end of it. Eventually that truckstop was replaced by a Costco.
CD. Thanks for the thoughtful and thought-provoking post.
Although I’ve been a member since last spring (and was reading the site far longer than that as a lurker) I never have posted a lot. The main reason was I didn’t enjoy trying to untangle intellectual spaghetti that passed for argument by some. It was tedious and ultimately pointless. And only a few times would I engage in a point/counterpoint debate, although a lot of discussion seems to have devolved into that here lately (see the “discourse” immediately after the AZ incident or anytime falling gold prices are mentioned as just 2 examples). That kind of back and forth is not necessarily bad (though the abusive ad hominem certainly is), but when a person feels compelled to rejoinder every comment, it gets tiresome.
And then it finally dawned on me a few months ago, that it’s not really my job. I do not need to fix, correct, or enlighten the thinking (or lack thereof) of others. The content of another person’s brain is his/her responsibility. I can point out errors, provide counter arguments, and so on, but I cannot correct their thinking any more than I can digest food for them.
CD, you may as well have been speaking right at me with your spot on observation that, “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.” I gradually came to this realization on my own a month or so ago, but you have no idea how refreshing it is to hear it said by someone else.
One last point about trying to win converts. During the American Revolution (against what was at the time the most daunting naval and military power on the globe), fewer than 10% of the colonial population took up active resistance against the British. Estimates I’ve seen (but can’t recall the citations at the moment) showed that about 30% of the colonial population in total sided with the rebels; about 30% sympathized with the crown, while the rest were the typically undifferentiated middle. The point is, even against long odds, it does not take everyone being on your side to win. It doesn’t even take a majority.
Thanks, CD….you did a good thing.
We talk, they print. Big fucking deal. We don't need to organize when they are destroying the monetary contract anyway. The real issue is developing a coherent theoretical basis for the next monetary system. We are not going to change the trajectory of this monstrosity, but driving the debate on the next system is what maters.
"We are not going to change the trajectory of this monstrosity, but driving the debate on the next system is what maters."
agreed brodix. what comes from the ashes? even if many of us get burned in the process? even the most barren desert was once fertile and thus embodies the seeds of its own future fertility.
Until all the crooked banksters and lawless noble are reined in.
Long Live Zero Hedge
Great article CD, I've been a lurker for awhile don't post much , But definitly have to say thanks your writing is always been uplifting. I usually just read articles and do one skim through comments. This website has a lot to offer in a world where the attention span of a ferret is the most prevelant among the population. but it does seem some of the older members i remember reading have dropped off. what I love most is the diversity of opinion on zerohedge.I think that we can all agree though the system we currently have is not what we want to pass on to future generations. But we don't want to give all of our freedom up to the collective to compile enough statistics to decide who would be best managed doing what.
seems as though more people popping up seem to not have as long of a time horizon when they look towards the future...I don't think the next 10 days matter so much on zerohedge I think it's the next 10 years, what lessons will be learned from this failed attempt at central planning by the fed and U.S. gov? will it be like the 30's? how about 1819? 1908? It seems as though you can pick the years out of a hat in perpetuity...Will we learn our lesson this time? I think websites like zerohedge will help us towards that.
Maybe we could all just walk away sometime but, Just remember how it feels to clik on zerohedge and the sites down. End of the world is the first thought.
Where Have All The Zero Hedge Veterans Gone, Long Time Passing?
To sites where they dont have to endure insulting replies to their comments from folks like you, and where it is less work to wade through the useless posts, like this one, and find the ones that have some insight into investing. That would be my guess.
Whoa. Wasn't expecting that. The problem with being popular is that it attracts the population of which a disproportionate share are predisposed to self-expression rather than self-examination. Take a look at the comments on the posting about the airport bombing in Moscow for some extreme examples of bad form. It's tough for thoughtful people to even hang around somewhere like that.
Feedback loops spiral into a state of diminishing returns under the weight of their own success. I've never seen a website with the quality of information at ZeroHedge.com. I figure either it's the smartest folks that lost their jobs at Lehman Bros., or it's the CIA... who else could it be? The volume alone of analysis is breathtaking.
Thanks for having a great website. We have a tiny blog and we've studied feedback loops, fractals, Nash equilibrium, etc. for over a year to try to figure out how to address the challenge you propose for our little site. So far we don't have an answer... and we don't have feedback loop, but still are charting steep growth.
We will say this one thing about community. Some research is starting to show that one of the causes of the global credit crisis was a disconnect between social implications and people's creditworthiness. Their finding that in the case of micro-finance (kiva for example) that it's the social bonds that are what are producing the high payback ratios. I think when your town closed down it's credit bureau and "optimized" through solutions such as Fair Isaac, or SAS, then the "George Bailey" influence was discounted through its anonymizer effect.
Maybe one of the reasons why Facebook is so highly valued is that it essentially is representative of real people and not a "costume ball" which can become tiresome. Not to say that Facebook isn't tiresome, just scalable... at least so far. I'm not a Facebook fan (don't even use it), but I'm just commenting on the apparent dilemma. If I was on your board, I'd be suggesting some consideration of Facebook connect, or at least an argument as to it's relative value as compared with anonymous commentary. When it comes down to it, is about a genuine teacher-student relationship or is it about proving that you're smarter than the other guy? The again, maybe it's just a Fight Club. If, so then why all the crying of lot 49?
Thanks for all your work and especially this post - who are you man?
Dave Harrison
www.tradewithdave.com
If the money is there I say make the best veterans partners. Zero Hedge has all the elements of revolutionary publication. It already is in fact and yet what it really needs is even more marketing. The mainstream has been hard at work shutting down the last vestigages of their own dissident communities, with MSN Money shutting down their long time financial community of tens of thousands, many who migrated to http://www.notmsnymoney.proboards.com, but having shed thousands of readers and those passers by who picked up the stories, many times derived from Zero Hedge, that at least shown some small light on the giant fraud and the mine field strewn remains of the now treacherous and totally manipulated markets. After years of community development, some of the greatest minds of those communities were temporarily submerged to the readers. This is to me in parallel with Keith Olbermann's departure from MSNBC and the further consolidation of the increasingly monolithic and oligarchicly subservient US media complex. The burden of investigative journalism and of anti-spin falls more and more fully on the likes of Zero Hedge. I suggest that Zero Hedge bring in its brightest writers into the fold, offering them shares, or some other gesture of inclusion. Writing takes time and research tools and of course talent and among the best an innate ability to persuade. The Zero Hedge needs a broader audience. I'd like to see a print magazine or some other spin off that put the most profound and stimulating stories of the month on the news stands of grocery stores. But would the Oligarchy of the publishing world allow it? Perhaps not, but I'm certain that Salon and the Rolling Stone would be willing to run full page ads to drive the broader reading audience back to Zero Hedge. With that kind of exposure, certainly a host of talented writers would arrive. One worries that then Zero Hedge would become yet another buy-out target of the monolithic media consolidation machine, only to be vacuumed up, all intelligentsia eliminated and classic Murdochesque fashion, turned into just a red herring or false flag pseudo-revolutionary publication designed only to keep the ever shrinking US intelligense distracted while the rate of corruption within the US continues to accelerate unabated. None the less, given the revolutionary roots of this publication the writers of Zero Hedge and perhaps future share holders should be required to sign an oath on the River Styx swearing never to surrender to the media Oligarchy and to continue speaking the truth and reporting the otherwise unreported status on the field of financial mayhem until the last fathering.
Duffminster
I was with you until I re-read the first 5 words. Personally, I only refer ZH to the financially intellectual curious who dwell outside the sell side. A small population.
You sound like the help, get me a 16 pump vanilla, quad shot carmel machoto' with an inch of carmel in the bottom...
CD,
I write to you as a brother...albeit a little brother in ZH terms. I found you [all] late...late enough that it cost me some serious dough. Hi ho. I've changed my skills and am recovering in the wake.
I read 95% of your essay. I say 95% percent because I skimmed a little. There was a portion of your essay that was a loop...repetitive. Now that is not mortal sin, but due to my prior profession, when I hit those loops, I skim as a matter of natural course [for me]. However, this did not interfere in the slightest in terms of receiving your heart felt message...which I liked very much. I can just imagine.
Some thoughts I had:
1. Several times, I thought the concept you were reaching for was the concept of the Dampening Wave....this in reference to the way in which folk discover, immerse themselves joyfully, fight, and then find disillusionment when results do no immediately materialize. The theory of the Dampening Wave is that of the oscillating sign wave that over time quiets after its initial catalysts has passed...until flat...and then until the next event which reinitiates the sign wave. [BTW...the next catalyst will likely come from the Blight on America bank...for it has been chosen.]
2. I wish I had been here when the founding fighters were brawling...so that I could properly appreciate them now. I have a pretty good imagination, and so I think I can appreciate them anyway. What your essay lacked was an understanding of those of us still fighting here. But then again you did talk about folk coming and going...so maybe...
3. I question the assertion that folks do not come here to assist in trading. I cannot imagine why anyone would follow Tyler through these dark places he goes were it not for a more immediate self-interest. As folk have said, about Average Joe, he does not know and, in many cases, it doesn't look like he will learn...from Tyler. Those tied to the markets are CERTAINLY paying attention to the daily articles here. I am here every day. I trade. Take it for whatever it is worth.
4. I love you, man.
Thanks for the essay. I do like those, and I consume them when I see them here. Something about writing and how Average Joe just decided to watch tv instead...it moves me when I see it in print. I see a guy struggling at the keys to say it just so. To that end, I tip my hat to you, brother.
Cdad
it's difficult when you cant make freinds and family see what is right ib front of their nose. 2 years ago the global financal system came withina wisker of collapse and it seems completely forgotten. Truly its so obvious that nothings been fixed, just papered over and chewing gum in the holes. Those close to me sat Ruff whats wrong with you everythings fine, stop worrying. I am screaming inside. It takes alot out of me to both voice my warnings and hold my tongue at the sheer ingornace and stupidity of those I know are intellegent and are capable of seeing if they look hard. The propoganda is so strong I cant read the news or turn on the tv. Either its propoganda or intended to distract us from the real issues. It does wear me down to the point that i dont give a fuck. I,ve got a 40 acre place on the end of a dirt road in rural AL. lots of deer and turkey...lots of PM's and food/guns/ammmo etc. But what the fuck I"m so depressed by the state of our planet and the virus called man I rather wish a plague would free the earth of us. I find joy in the small world around me...my girl, dogs etc..but the rest fuck it
ruffian-I've been going through the same discussions w/family and w/wildly different reactions, in all reactions.
So, those of us who are of the 'papered over' view are of sunny dispositions and are 'making hay while the sun shines' while 'returning to our roots,' e.g.
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=%22putting+food+b...
But then you say:
I have a suggestion for you: there are many ways that you can solve your problem with respect to yourself. Perhaps depression is a symptom of your inner being. If you were in the north tonight, depression would be not on your mind at all.
You see, I'm in the rest, and I say: 'you have the power to resolve your self-virus problem for us all.'
- Ned
ruffian,
What you describe (trying to get others to see, with no result, what most of us here do) is something that has given many of us a lot of pain, and probably caused "cognitive dissonance" among those we try to warn.
I don't have 40 acres (my wife won't let me), but otherwise am trying to prepare for what could be a dire future.
Try not to be depressed! As I read recently, you SHOULD try to enjoy things while they are still good... If things go bad, RIGHT NOW is the Good Old Days.
thanks for the words...just disgusted to the point of not caring...they beat me...being prepared doesnt make me feel better anymore......just want to see this thing burn down and something started anew in my lifetime.....couldnt take passing with this shit still going on, wondering how it will turn out on my deathbed.....
I blame the fucking captcha math problems.
I''m still kicking it around, on twitter and irc. Honestly tho, I've only made a handful of comments (including going to battle in Her Majesties Name, The Queen Marla), but the comments section reads like an unholy marriage of the Democratic Underground, Prison Planet, and ATS. The noise is unbearable, with anything meaningful being drowned out. There's also the adage of talking your book/anything meaningful is already being traded not talked.
At the end of the day, between wrapping up school and the demands of a career (I am, if nothing, a glutton for punishment), this particular format just isn't doing it for me. YMMV.
cd,
three songs. for the ghosts of old timers past, present and future.
and as a sound track for this post..
Tom Waits (feat. Bette Midler) - I Never Talk To Strangers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh1OWi1hJOk&feature=related
.
Tom Waits - You Can Never Hold Back Spring
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgeZEdbv_m8
.
Tom Waits -'Nirvana' (by Bukowski)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKSJEv5wRF8
.
i would love to make the necessary adjustments to my comments
based on the opinion of the mysterious person who junked this post.
please just tell me what the problem is so that i will not do it again.
this is your opportunity to help me help myself. seriously, please help.
To CD, Long time lurker, recent registration, first post.
Articulate use of langauge is the exclamation point of brevity.
I also miss voices of respect and reason. As others have mentioned, I scan for names of posters to weed out the various passionate pissing contests.
Fact based inquiry, unveiling the Matrix and choosing to focus on solutions are the best I can do.
ZH is one source of info I use to unveil the Matrix.
Thanks for being here CD,
Southerner
Hmmm. Well, personally I just returned to the shadows of the blogspot from whence I came. I read, but don't speak. I miss Cheeky and Marla, I do have to say. I suppose I've decided talk is cheap. People, collectively, haven't even learned the most basic lessons from humanity's greatest teachers, let alone the lessons that Tyler and CD are trying to teach. So, I've just moved along on my spiritual quest, to pull the plank out of my own eye first so to speak.
Still paying your mortgage? Still paying taxes to a government that doesn't give two shits about you? Still trading in rigged markets? Still working for worthless paper?
The people the US and ZH aren't ready to be free, aren't ready to do what it takes to stop giving their power to the users.
Que cera cera. We're fucked, I personally advise you to prepare yourself to die well. Treat others the way you want to be treated. That is all.
Thanks Crab Cake, you are one of the 'originals' for me and
I miss your connection.
Best to you.
Crab Cake! Thanks for the check-in.
by Crab Cake
on Mon, 01/24/2011 - 19:40
#900847
Hmmm. Well, personally I just returned to the shadows of the blogspot from whence I came. I read, but don't speak. I miss Cheeky and Marla, I do have to say. I suppose I've decided talk is cheap. People, collectively, haven't even learned the most basic lessons from humanity's greatest teachers, let alone the lessons that Tyler and CD are trying to teach. So, I've just moved along on my spiritual quest, to pull the plank out of my own eye first so to speak. Still paying your mortgage? Still paying taxes to a government that doesn't give two shits about you? Still trading in rigged markets? Still working for worthless paper? The people the US and ZH aren't ready to be free, aren't ready to do what it takes to stop giving their power to the users. Que cera cera. We're fucked, I personally advise you to prepare yourself to die well. Treat others the way you want to be treated. That is all.
******************************************************************************
Huh? Bro, say it aint so?
I remember you Crab Cake from when I came on board. You are another gem, stick around!
10-4 re treating others the way you want to be treated. I am trying...
topcallingtroll's point above is a very good one (post #900649).
Isn't this what a turn in the markets is? A capitulation of that move's opponents? I'm almost at the point of giving up because I think that there's no stopping the stock market moves up and yet, perversely, that could be the point of the turn!?
Interestingly, and why I think this is a bear market rally in the big scheme of things (amongst other reasons), there was NEVER any sense of bull capitulation at the lows of March 2009, only a sense of crowing by the Powers That Be that they'd beaten it and saved the World. Hubris?
DavidC
I have also missed a lot of the old ZH Veterans. I wonder if they all left, or maybe they just stopped commenting? I read ZH every day, but don't throw in a comment very often. At first it was because I felt most of the posters were much more familiar with the subject than myself. But now it seems the comments quickly go off on a tangent and don't give any additional insight to the lead article. I don't even read many comments any more.
Here's why I like ZH. I recently read the book "The Sellout" by Charles Gasparino. The book reviewed four episodes of Wall Street firms getting their tit caught in a wringer over mortgage backed securities. I noticed that I had a much greater insight into the one that occured after the creation of ZH. I'm just an engineer. I don't work on Wall Street, though you can see it from where I live. I have a much greater understanding of the situation if I read it on ZH rather than the Wall Street Journal.
CEOoftheSOFA,
One doesn't need a PhD in Economics to have a reasoned and valid insight to what's happening. It's one of the reasons that Chris Martenson set up his site.
http://www.chrismartenson.com/
DavidC
They are all buried in shallow graves. ZH is a honey pot for malcontents to first circle around like moths. It is a huge bug zapper for those attracted by the lights and baited to post. The IP address is snagged, and the trace filters installed and targeted data collection activated. The end game is arrest, murder, fake suicide, induced heart attack, .... and then silence.
We all gotta go sometime friend...very few in life get to pick their terms...pick your own terms...dying in silence ain't me ;-)
Zzzap!...LOL.
I want to die peacefully, in my sleep, the way Grandpa did. Not screaming in horror, like his passengers.
....sorry, it just came out.
+1
I tip my hat to you good sir. I know it sounds dramatic and I'm probably using a bit of hyperbole, but I want to die a free man rather than live as a slave. Whether or not that will happen remains to be seen, but I hope I can make the right choice.
I lament that it is so often the case that the entire concept of hell can be described as the terrible things we humans do to one another.
I think you have written a good piece. I know as a relative newcomer that I find myself driven crazy inside because I see a political and monitary system that should be falling apart but it continues, not only to maintain itself, but even grow into a more hideous caricature of its former self. I keep looking for the singular event that will cause the system to blow apart at the seems, but it continues to morph. To me it is trully incredulous when I look at the absurdity of it all, the bankers making more money than ever, the taxpayer getting poorer, and the people keep coming back to the trough for more. I just want to scream....."wake up people", but when I do they look at me with glazed over eyes and a blank stare that says it all..."huh?".
So maybe your veterans have just been worn down tired of being frustrated with each event and moved on to other truth tellings. For me I'm glad I found Zero hedge because now I know I'm not the only crazy person out there.
CD - Firstly, thanks for the essay. Your ability to rise above some of the pettiness & squabling that is increasingly here on ZH with posts that elevate thought to a higher level are much appreciated.
I personally don't post much, but do appreciate reading the thoughts of many here (although certainly not all), and especially some of the older members.
Although due to my background I find it very hard to understand some elements that are found amongst the ZH community (especially with regards to those that are too focused with individual liberty at the expense of being part of a healthy functioning society), there are still excellent arguments from many that are thought provoking & that have changed my life significantly.
I'm not a wealthy individual, so a lot of the debate around buying gold & silver to protect against fiat currency decline is a little moot for me, but I have made small changes where I can. I have moved my banking to a credit union, planted vegetable gardens, purchased chickens, taken a first-aid course, and am just about to down-size my job so that I can spend more time learning about doing things for myself instead of the 40hr week/consumer mouse-wheel.
I'm not sure I would have done any of these things if it were not for ZH, so I give my thanks to all, and especially those who remain positive that there is a better road to follow - and that certainly includes you, CD. Thanks.
I've taken to checking this site most every day. Don't post much, if any, but have been in PM's for a few years now and completly out of the paper game..... I do find myself tired. And very often SICK & TIRED.
They didn't break Rome in a day so I figue we got a while of this crap to deal with. Might as well put up a fight as I will NOT look my daugher in her eyes (she is nine now) and not try to eveything I can to make her world at least more bearable.
That's the spirit, Argentum. As Village Elder (er, Idiot) said above:
Push back!