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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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Thank you once again CD.
Your observations, comments, and meaty texts are part of the
ZH draw for me. While not registered for very long, I did lurk for quite a while
until my conscience forced me to register and donate to help perpetuate this beacon.
I miss Marla and the late night Radio Zero mixes, and the civil discourse that now seems to appear only randomly.
Still, since this is the best news source I know of, I visit daily, but now only skim through the comments.
Of course, I avidly search for the latest of WB7's outstandingly biting humor!
Good posting here CD, and some heartfelt commentary, just like the old days.
Funny how we fight so strongly against the only thing life can guarantee us - change.
CD - I noticed many of the 'old hands' disappear over the last year. I myself almost had to swear off the site because it was making me paranoid. There is a system, and despite all the realizations that the system is rigged, I see no way out of it. So all these good articles, interesting analyses and insights on how the Fed is making it possible for some people to make lots of money... I have seen no movement towards ending it. Worse, finding insightful commentary is much much harder. Has ZH succeeded? Has the global ponzi come crashing down or is it stronger than ever?
Partly, not writing much no more is simply due to the unprintable nature of the words in the mean directness of my thoughts...it is a concern to have reached the cliff, have fallen off it, y'know, to see the illusion of midget morals laid asunder, to see a popular uprising in every townsquare - against, essentially, economic / legislative policies from - as Tyler says, some malevolent TwilightZone...
also, there's not so much to actually discuss. I mean, the data-points which come out nowadays is such ludicrously cheaply inane drivel, it's painful to have to think about it. And a lot of the discussions here were pretty closely tied into the relevance of sort-of Data. ..now look at us..we're all in la-la-land -Aluminium production, forecast to rise, so what to build new boats and planes and cars and other things, really? And where's all this cheap electricity going to come from? Nano-capacitors and bateriies and LED lights and rare-earths...it's just a replacement cost. This isn't market-expansion, it isn't growth of the economy.
No, it's a clearing out of small hands and to leave the poor out in the cold. Food prices go up first, squeezing out other discretionaries, goods supply goes down to keep corporate revenues 'economic', rampant inflation, muggings, a billion peole starving for the cost of Wall st.s' lunch bill, politicians' -vote themselves pay rises and petition some cash-strapped monarch for a tawdry title to nobility.
and when I feel this way - it aggravates me to think that we got here by a thousand little compromises; like in the Manhattan project - they knew the science would have dire consequences but also have it would have positive outcomes, German scientists researching the atom were taking a very long time to find the same results. ...as a society, we all give away a little bit of our rights of ownership because we think the benefits will outweigh the cost..and now we have mind-numbing television and unaccountable military dictatorships using children to rape and pillage, with guns funded by our bank accounts! No-one can hold Banks accountable, no-one. It's difficult to feel as consternated with what we've become and then to encounter the shills here on ZeroHedge.
#rant off#
This piece touches a quick issue: tonality. Just as human beings have an inner eye that sees things they aren't always conscious of, so they have an ear that hears below the noise of life.
All systems have an unique tone. Perhaps we can't label it, but we have all heard it, and we recognize it when we do hear it. A person who thinks deeply, who reasons quietly and well, tunes his ear immediately in search of it.
I used to hear that serious, thoughtful tone on Zero Hedge. Not so much anymore. But stopping by the site each morning still has value to me. Zero Hedge is a Lighthouse.
But I do miss the reasonable voices I once heard. Perhaps the trollish cacophony simply became too loud -- like canned laughter. Once that happens we must sadly begin to tune things out, to press off buttons lest we drown in the noise.
They have disappeared into the Fed's gulag system.
there is perhaps an economic component to ZH, to wit:
NYTimes.com attracts over 30 million monthly unique visitors, which fuel over $100 million a year in ad revenue
I do not know ZH exact numbers but I think they are right up there with top blogs - I'm thinking of that rag that Blodget runs - and he has scored millions in investment mostly by a group of HuffPo types e.g. Lerer
TechCrunch was recently sold for between 20 and 40 million to AOL - (editorial - why do you think those scumbags are so pro the new Google algo)
Bottom line is ZH is worth serious dollars not that there is anything wrong with that in fact more power to ZH for the great service it provides
I also wonder with the changes to the credits on the right margin what changes may have taken place within the executive offices of the Fight Club not that those changes have affected the overall content but to CDs point perhaps the nature of the comments
ref
http://www.observer.com/2010/media/second-round-investment-henry-blodget
http://gawker.com/5650073/techcrunch-sold-to-aol
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=1...
I try to help the site by NOT posting when I don't have anything productive to say which is OFTEN. I do see a lot of useless drivel but at least it's not from me! drivel, drivel, drivel ;-)
I try too.... Oh, oh. Is this drivel?
I have been sitting on the sidelines here for some time.
The overall direction here seems to be right on, mas o menos.
The problem with truth: who is looking, who is asking.
Anyway, I enjoy the show.
As we all know, this, so far, has just been the tip of the vulcano.
Best is yet to come(pun intended)
Best,
Still here too, just there is soooo much to read everyday that keeping up with it all takes all my time, and I rarely drill down into the comments anymore, also the stupid catcha thing really annoys the hell out me. Time is of the essence, and it just wastes it.
That's interesting. I get logged on automatically and never have to do goofy math. Maybe I should not let Firefox have such freedom.
The number of people who comment so seldom are coming out all over! Ain't that a testament enough the CS's article was of value? Looks like the real people will come out and play when the topic doesn't attract a bunch of trolls who are obviously on the payroll (directly or indirectly) of TPTB. Welcome all!
I'm an old timer but didn't post more than a handful of comments and never commentary. I can only speak for myself but I'm tired. When ZH came out with the news that GS was front running its own clients there should have been a short timely investigation before they were given the death penalty. That GS has been a player in China, the US Fed, and the corruption it breeds tells us all that nothing will ever get done.
The comments are either buy food guns ammo and land in Idaho and learn to carve up a bear to eat as the system will fail and fall around us or the US army will be stationed at every block to check IDs for all citizens, giving a pass to PC protected classes. They're just too down and not helpful.
As to commentary - its still good to know. Truth will out. I proudly wear my shirts I bought "on a long enough timeline....zero" Nobody will do anything though. We're captives in a show where the bad guys act with impunity because the judges are bought and paid for, the SEC/FCC and other agencies are all politicized and there you have it. A country that wants change but only for the other guy, not for themselves.
Pimco and the states muni's are all known to be underwater and should be taken to the woodshed but they're going to come up with some plan to keep the states from declaring bankruptcy by printing money and then holding gold to a level so that nobody can hedge. They've got the levers of power and I'm just tired of reading and knowing how bad it is and how its not going to change.
Tomorrows POTUS speech will talk about "investment" another word for spending and we've been down that road. GE's in bed with everyone. Spain and the European Union should be split but they'll put lipstick on it and sell it to someone and that would be China.
One day.....On a long enough timeline everyone's survival drops to zero, will be proven true. I don't want to be around for that day when its en mass.
CD,
Thanks for the excellent writing - always a pleasure to read - a gift to fellow truthseekers. I'll never be the same. These are dark times.
I remember MsC's smackdown when I was stuck in a generational-angst paradigm. A new level of clarity was achieved!
Exhausted.
You are loved. You have affected me and my preparations, too. I still want you to meet some awesome young woman...
We still have community, it is stretched thin a bit.
Ah, merci. Too worried for my own good.
You must know it was a heavy blow back in the day when I was seeking (neverending) to be accepted by the cool kids. I mean the really cool kids. I was in disbelief; this shit is free?!!1!
I accepted that this was Fight Club. Now when I hear about cutting SocSec I think back to your comment. You beat me handily...and I wanted more.
Now I see nmewn, HPD, and Hulk exchanging and I get that excitement again. Real men, conversing in an 18th century tavern; the secluded corner, speaking of things that are good, rational, and highly purposeful for the Freedom of humanity.
I recently saw B9K9 telling JR to post more - Bravo! Encore! Tous les deux!! Apostate I say the same.
I remember when Steak and Davey mentioned their professions. What minds among us. Not just a bunch of homeless guys at the public library!
Shameful and Econophile, our Austrian persuasions.
Chumba always carried a big stick. And we liked it that way. No fucking around.
And Heph. I just don't think like that - which is why it is so great.
Miles, good Miles. Strong vet. Smart vet.
Lennie Hendrix and the doelarr. LOL. Always great.
merehuman and being earnest - no match in these parts
nopat, Assetman, Project Mayhem, deadhead, AnonMonetariast, Howard Beale, Rusty, docj, Jesse, Akak, dumpster, Chindit, Mako, ApocNow, Rainman and many more that demonstrated sincere (if not dire) intent...I hope Marla is also well.
geopol, you still da man.
And WTF Robo! Bring back the wildebeasts more than anything!
Ah, well, that's enough. Nostalgia. I think Tyler should post a chart/timeline of names and posting nodes. It hurts my brain to imagine how to best chart it, but that would be cool.
Well, MsCreant, as I told Cognitive Dissonance once: ["I only wanted to help."]
Thank you for including me.
Canned ham in my backyard, bitchez!!!
You left out Zerohead...our metals/engineering cat. Deadhead, who would have had a field day with Rahm not getting his mayoral play in Chi-town. And so many more that just added kick to the punchbowl. I used to talk about options a great deal about the machinations of trading them institutionally for those who wanted to know. Our knowledge base was simply amazing.
The way I see it, CD, there was a time when you could learn as much from the commentors as the article being posted. We were schooling eachother and soaking up even more knowledge from the discussion, along with some really great humor. I don't really find that to be the case very often these days.
Indeed. Any quickie list will have omissions.
Howard, it seems to me that many comments these days have been what I termed above "Twitterized". A really decent, well thought reply in dynamic thread rarely uses less than 140 characters. This is a battle well worth joining as some wish to continue the drive to boil down a 200 page report to the lead sentence of the executive summary (An affliction I am well conversant with). I bet Socrates would just rotate and grab another glass of wine tho...
Cheers to you Howard. You're so right when you say these newbies have no idea how supremely brilliant the comments section was. It still can be, we just have to wade through some troll crap to get there now.
Meanwhile, best to you Howard. You're always dynamic, terrific, original and supremely human. You're a standard setter in cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoPL7BExSQU
Zerohead, a terrific pilot/co-pilot
PS I know it just isn't the same without Dead Head. I hope my few Rahm rants filled the missing space some...
"Now I see nmewn, HPD, and Hulk exchanging and I get that excitement again. Real men, conversing in an 18th century tavern; the secluded corner, speaking of things that are good, rational, and highly purposeful for the Freedom of humanity."
Thank you my friend...I'm working on my social skills to try and accept those who don't carry the values I still cherish...not much success so far ;-)
WOW. Thank you my dear amphibian. Dontcha know, you've been bringing the real from day 1, which is why I've always considered you one of the cool kids I aspire to hang with (if a bit reminiscent of my time in Seattle with all my friends little brothers growing up to sing or play in rock n roll bands...:)
Your list is far more inclusive and considered than my passing swipe at this subject a little bit ago ... with some common themes.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/another-day-another-debt#comment-854061
Canned ham in my backyard, bitchez!!!
ROFLMAO. as I'm sure MsCreant has posted a recepie for just that sometime in the past and these threads still provide a steady source of raw material ... (Still got that recepie floating around MsCreant?) hahahaha (did ya ever get Cheeky's marinade recepie?)
Yes indeed. As Bruce noted in part earlier, the deal on all this seems to be that there is always great action to be had around here. It's just that we've gotten a bit spoiled finding such an eclectic, dynamic & energetic mix as we find here. Growing pains? Sure. Missing folks we have gotten to know better through the structure we've found here? You bet!! Loving the dynamic alchemy that had been created here and missing some of those ingredients. Oh hell yes!!!
One of the steadfast facts of life for many around here is that life is hella elastic, with varying degrees of engagement simply out of necessity. I'm sure many folks that used to more actively comment "lurk" simply out of necessity of the moments requirements. Time, energy, its expenditure and more contributing factors of human life impact the calculus. With ZH being a sort of hub for everything from the absurdly dynamic to the dynamically absurd it naturally attracts folks whose lives are the same way. Looking at this thread, WaterWings's super list and simply reflecting I appreciate how freaking cool it is just to be able to enjoy the interaction as we can & when we can with the structure as it is from Tyler & the team at ZH. Thanks since it take all of it to make it go.
I wonder if more folks are looking for that elusive Sunday in a weekday world while others (most especially information flow & discussion junkies) seem to appreciate that this space is a kind of Sunday in that weekday world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFN_Iu_PD-g
After all, Fight Club isn't ZHarmony or some shit and the road to and from Paper Street is littered with all sorts of bruised egos, battered beliefs & pounded pretension delivered a single serving at a time.
Thanks for another shot of considered observation Cog. Keep on keepin' on Brotherman as all of the energy being generated from this bruising, battering & pounding is simply passing into the snow pack. Meanwhile, it's 4:20 somewhere....
Cheers to all.
Some of us ain't gone away. Just learned to be alot more selective about what to write and when.
IF truth be told, I have been backing up my words and posts about making ready for difficult times by adding resources to the household, taking training shoots and learning new things.
Some of you complain of the Essay's Length by the Person who wrote this topic. To me it's a normal paper, well written the way it used to be taught in School Decades ago. Not some cheesy one paragraph post online because someone has not developed the patience to sit quietly and read it all and think before answering or not.
I have not gone away, But I have backed down because those of you who follow what I had to say probably already know I have nothing more to add except one thing.
I am too busy actually making ready in real life and doing what must be done. For example, just the other day we paid up both federal and state taxes and submitted them to the Government in order to get it all out of the way so we can see and plan the rest of the year.
We have reduced earnings just a little bit to capture all the normal deductions so that whatever is taken away minus the additional withholding means that taxes are paid and we get back the extra money that we put up over last year.
The more they wish to raise taxes, the less money we need to live on each year. Which means getting totally out of debt ASAP and getting ahead with adequate funds in liquid form and other resources that are quite useful.
The other day the state cried ice and snow, walmarts were stripped. We didnt care because we had 4 months food and water on hand and if it snowed 40 feet it's all good.
In fact we have experienced 40+ feet back in 93 after the winds quit blowing 4 days into the storm. It would take a Cat 930 wheeled loader to clear a 10 mile stretch of two lane road to connect to the next town about 3 days night and day with a fleet of dump trucks to haul the snow away.
When we could finally drive to the next town, all you saw was a slit of blue sky above two walls of snow about 30 feet apart and higher than the telephone poles.
That was one thing that prodded us towards making ready because there are times nature and man can do things that are so far out of our ability to control and contain, so the next best thing to do is have what you need. Food, Shelter, Funds, Water, Weapons and Ammunition along with a few skills that you can make use of to be useful to your area in trade for something else instead of being just deadweight ready to be looted by the zombies.
always at the grocery store, if its on sale, i buy a few extra cans and put them in the pantry. BE CAREFUL OF EXPIRATION DATES though, rotate your foods. Keep a little cash in the house so if the atm's go down you're not a lost soul. Doesn't have to be much, just enough and maybe a little extra to give.
CD I too read all your posts and find them interesting. At least you ask some good questions. Here are my thoughts.
I have never found it possible to wake people up. It is a waste of time and energy to try. Those who are awake are interested and interesting to be with. Those who are asleep want to be so and will likely remain so despite any attempts on your part to change them.
The truth is only useful for a short time. Once I know that current finances are a ponzi scheme, how much more detail do I need? Continuing to beat the drum of "ain't it awful" won't help any. And unfortunately many of the posts here are just long winded whining rants of "ain't it awful". I get tired of this kind of energy.
I read The 4th. Turning by Strauss and Howe back in 1997. We are following their predictions pretty closely. Once the Established Order started to fall apart there was no way to stop it. Basically the articles here on ZH are about the daily detail of exactly how the EO is falling apart today. This can be interesting but in reality it is about as useful as knowing how far into the North Sea the Titanic has sunk so far. It does not help one to survive. Only getting into the life boats and dealing with the cold North Sea in cooperation with the other people who also want to survive will.
I have been reading ZH for at least 18 mo and I am getting tired of the whinging, whining, complaining, and bashing of other posts. It is also very tiring and disheartening to keep reading about the continuing destructive nature of the Established Order. As someone said, it just makes me feel helpless and small.
To survive this 4th. Turning I must keep my energy and spirits in good order. What I would like to read more about is places and people who are doing new things and thinking differently about life's issues so that they are starting to create new successful process for themselves and others.
There are not any answers to the problems we face on the old path. That is why it is falling apart. Trying to fix the old path/EO ("if only they would see", "if only they would do x instead of y.", "can't they see the truth here?") is a total waste of time and energy. I am learning to use the phrase "how can I think differently about this?" when I find myself up against some difficulty. I am also learning to use Spiritual Technology because the answer isn't on the physical plane anymore. The world cannot change by trying to change the collective EO. Things will only change when enough of us live differently and create a new EO. This is what the 4th Turning is all about.
Now that I know that the Fed is doing real stupid things that are sure to bring the country to its knees pretty soon, I don't need to know about todays installment of Fed stupidity or GS stupidity and greed or anyone else's. What I would sure like to know more about is where in the world are people starting to live with better systems and businesses. There has got to be some new good developing on the planet and knowing the truth about this would be much more helpful and uplifting to me than anything else about more financial greed and stupidity.
I guess newcomers to this site need to know more truths about the EO, but it would sure be nice to see some articles about good new ideas to replace the old bad ones added to the mix. We are all going to need a lot more than silver, guns, gold and a place in the country to get through these difficult times.
Is there ANY comment over 10 words that won't get junked?
Shit.
"Is there ANY comment over 10 words that won't get junked?"
No.
The odds are against it...just wait till you speak your mind enough that you pick up a few trolls that hate your guts for speaking your mind to go along with an over ten word post...LOL.
Some folks are so Twitterized that reading anything beyond 140 characters makes 'em puke.
You are God among insects... of course they dont get it sometimes. Man up, continue on.
You are fantastic!
The site attracts a lot of people. Many have poor manners. Scanning is the way to get past the garbage to the interesting and useful comments. Your glory days are gone.
could not agree more. you have to wade through windy posts like this one, looking for something, anything, to do with investing, only to find nothing but social studies gibberish. And then there are the people, like the author of this post, who ridicule and harrass commenters while offering nothing of value themselves. Its a lot of work to find the useful info on ZH now.
I think you have missed the point of this post in spectacular fashion. It's not about investing. OK?
Ok. I may have used an epithet once or twice and the F word a couple times for which I am sorry. In my defense I have never used the cliche: "_________ Bitches!" This site is my favorite and I come here at least an hour a day because it's one of the few "real" places sane people have where they can hear the truth. The site has changed a lot but it's still awesome. I want those old contributors back too but if they don't want to be here there is nothing we can do about it. The site got too big. It's still one of the most important places out there plus we still have the awesome articles to read everyday.
Creativity Bitchez!
"Trolls have taken over like a computer virus"
And this may have been part of the reason for a fight club type of environment. Troll control. OTOH, the perception of "troll" in the crowd could be that of a valid dissenting voice. Fine line. The good/bad news...someone is going to be right in all of this. How much time do you have?
Like that passion and excitement I felt holding that first gold coin... I feel it deflate like an addict chasing that first high each time I reluctantly "don't fight the fed" and go long FAS, CAT, AAPL, etc or pharma now... chasing the shorter term loot. Sometimes, and in particular more recently, I believe we all have felt that "there is no money in the cure".
CD:
I appreciate your post, and although I didn't read all of it, I got the jist. This site is what you make of it. Out with the old old-timers, in with the new old-timers. The folks I miss are the ones that most never knew... Ben the Bald was clearly from Goldman and a helluva commenter. We got some new guys in exchange that are thoughtful and cool... William Banzai for one.
As a sometime poster, I assure you this crowd definitely toughens one up, which is really what I needed to be better at what I do. Nothing fazes me anymore. Thank you, Ty.
I am grateful that William Banzai has seen fit to converse with me on a daily basis via email. I am a better person for it.
The only thing I think is really different is not the language and abuse, because we had plenty of it in the blog days, I mean real tapestries of it.
There will always be really stupid people in a big enough crowd. It weren't for them then nobody would stand out. There will always be arrogant and abusive people because some people are just like that.
I think what you are really alluding to but don't really say is the anti-semite element that somehow found it OK to slither around here. It makes people feel dirty just being around it, so they leave.
Dude let me educate you. Look up Semites. The Semites are the people in Palestine and surrounding areas who can trace their ancestry back to a point prior to WWII. Many are the direct descendants of the biblical Jews who converted to other religions, mostly Islam.
The people who marginalize, murder, maim and dispossess these Semites, they would be the Anti-Semites. Get it? RichardP, laosuwan [the fake Laotian, then Thai who can't speak either language, ie. can't translate his own handle, but had an uncle killed by the mooslems, hence his giant hard-on for the Zionist cause] for example will harrangue for this crowd.
If upon reading/encountering facts like this, you find you get your bowels in an uproar, so you feel dirty just being around it, then you can thank the successful and heavy conditioning you've been exposed to via MSM, to cause such a reaction.
I suggest you try to heal yourself.
Why not say anti-Jew if that's what your complaint is?
Why the semantic gymnastics?
To obscure the true identity of the true anti-semites? ... Maybe? Possibly?
who fed you this shit?
1st being a Catholic... not some evangelical, who preaches hell fire and hatred... and prays for the end of days...
you, have been.. poisoned by someone you trust... you dont want to hear that, I understand... but it is the truth.
living you life is a good way is better than praying for the end, it is better than blaming others for your own quality of life...
the jews get baby sat by my people... you cant have them, ever. they are god's choosen people, not mine.. Gods. in the old and new testament.
as well, why not go find Jesus and cut his fucking throat? he was a Jew Bastard? nooooo? none of that.. treat all Jews the same as you treat yourself. unless an individual gives you a reason not too.
as a Catholic, my people have killed more baptists / christians than mulislums.. its getting pretty close to clean up time again it looks like to me. to be really clear.
Hey Loser, I thought you were banned. How'z the tutoring job going? Save up enough to buy a budget ticket back to Sukhumvit 4? I see you still are not taking your medicine. ha ha.
ta ta, tutor boy.
http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B8%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%93
on Mon, 01/24/2011 - 19:56
#900907
The only thing I think is really different is not the language and abuse, because we had plenty of it in the blog days, I mean real tapestries of it.
There will always be really stupid people in a big enough crowd. It weren't for them then nobody would stand out. There will always be arrogant and abusive people because some people are just like that.
I think what you are really alluding to but don't really say is the anti-semite element that somehow found it OK to slither around here. It makes people feel dirty just being around it, so they leave.
**************************************************************************
I have offered time and time again to smack that dumb fuck around, but he is all hate no facts... how do you fight hate with facts if hate will not engage? I am working on it, not results thus far... but still trying.
Clearly, there are also people that post on Zero Hedge that have mental problems...
That certainly does take the thrill out of a thread for sure, but I didn't feel that CD was referring to that element of the ZH denizens.
The nature of the site has changed. The feeling that we were a community of like minded souls meeting, with learned discourse so we might rise above the savages and closer to god has gone. With Marla missing and others like B9K9 or Cheeky to name only a few, the quality of comments has deteriorated into noise. The posts from Tyler and assorted contributors are still good and keep us all entertained and visiting the site. But yes the “community” of commenters has died a bit. Sadly with the success of the site it was bound to happen. I’ve got no answers. That’s why I don’t comment much………….
I am, as my profile indicates, a relative newcomer to this forum -- or perhaps I should say, "ring." Being introduced to ZH was akin to finding ( rather, being accepted for "citizenship" into ) Galt's Gulch. There are such places...here we are. Tyler and those selected as contributors cultivate an intellectually rich enviornment. The quality of prose and content of composition -- on the web, frankly, there are none equal. The exchange and interplay of members ? Shall we say, "After fighting, everything else in your life has got the volume turned down." The calibre of membership here is, for the overwhelming part, like no other.
Of all the comments responding to CD's posting, the essence of Zero Hedge, I believe, is best expressed, ever so simply, by veteran member Village Idiot: Push back.
...One fight at a time.
When the number of responses/comments gets to be over 75, it is very difficult to find anything that hasn't been covered. The repetition gets to be a drag.
And after 3 years of incessant negative but accurate assessments and those assessments resulting in no major declines, those who believed that a major drop was going to prove very lucrative--how could it not with all this savvy truth out there?---are likely very disappointed that they missed the run from March 2009 and it is still heading up.
There are many times that I wished I hadn't discovered ZH at all and simply went with the momentum. I'd certainly be a 'great deal more better' off financially if I had never discovered this place.
There are many more who must know the frustration and futility that all this truth telling has caused, or that the truth is not at all what markets are paying attention to. The complete irrationality and manipulation on several orders of magnitude in the markets is proving as the poster above says, exhausting.
My best move thus far after 3 years of caution due to the information on this board was in December when I decided to go all in to the upside.
I will likely remain a subscriber to ZH because of the quality of the information that appears regularly here (and WB7's phantasms) and one day it is not only going to be very right about all the rot in the system, but that rot will finally pay off with a tumble we may likely only have one shot at in our lifetime those of us that missed a goodly part of the 2007 debacle.
Plus I can be profane all I want and pretty much anything I want to say has never been scratched or censored. The freedom is unparalleled anywhere else. And that in itself is worth the time spent here. There are no overly sensitive types here, that last very long. It's a real switch to see them disappear as opposed to the offender being asked to leave, in the true contrarian spirit.
The photogs of the wimmin from MHFT, Leo, and others that are permitted to post them round out, so to speak, the reasons to continue.
I liken staying with ZH like I do opening, funding and maintaining my futures and FOREX accounts.
One day there is going to be a grand opportunity to score very large on currency and commodity trades with a few good moves. I don't want to be in the position of attempting to open those accounts in haste and missing that day entirely when the whole shebang begins a fairly rapid descent or rise as the case may be. The leverage is already in place and ready to be used at the click of a mouse. I fail to understand if everyone doesn't have these accounts already open.
By the way i am beginning to see the.hints of a change in tone here that may indicate a mini capitulation is near. Anger denial resignation. When angry bears start capitulating it might mean something. This is another alternative data set i look.at! I do love zero hedge. I love you.too cd!
CD-
Your essay covers the Big picture, and I agree with your synopsis of the issues here and am encouraged that it’s cognitive. I have generally enjoyed your writing. I have to take exception of something that still is like a splinter in my mind. You had a member recently ask you “what books you recommend” and your reply was “none”. You gave some bullshit about being a white piece of paper crap. I have never looked at you the same since. You're an ego menace trying to be the pied piper. This struck to the core of everything I understand. Books are the only way out of the ignorance. Intelligent discussion adds to the knowledge base of critical thinking.
Trolls have taken over like a computer virus, concordantly the level of intelligent discussion has greatly diminished. The comments late 2010 of changing the (JUNK) vote was very vocal but was ignored by TD.
I find myself wondering what Zero would have been like if there was discussion in 2006-2008 before the SHTF. Would ‘we’ have seen what was coming?
Oh, this is before TSHTF. You ain't seen nothing yet.
Sorry you felt my answer was bullshit but I don't recommend books. I recommend subjects. If someone really wishes to understand something they must find their own way.
I have always felt that to recommend a book is to recommend the point of view of the author. In my opinion that makes no sense. The whole point of learning is to develop your own point of view, not adopt someone else's.
It's nothing new.
First documented on DarpaNet when they let the soft sciences start using the system.
The effect was first seen in civilian BBS when The Well BBS grew rapidly in 1988.
I experienced first time first hand through the old Prodigy political discussion boards back in 1995/6,
Today, try to read the comments sections of CalculatedRiskBlog...
THe only two systems I've seen maintain posting quality as posting quantity exploded exponentially, is SlashDot and another board I can't remember at the moment.
Slashdot uses the posting Rating system, and reader tolerance filters,
the other site used a two tier posting system where members with high enough ratings were allowed to preview posts going public... for a small monthly fee.
Every other system, including the "Flag as Junk" system used here on ZH, always failed under the weight of about 5,000 monkeys typing simultaneously.