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On The Precipice Of A Breakdown In Confidence

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Ben Hunt via Salient Partners' Epsilon Theory blog,


People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.

- Bill Watterson, “Calvin And Hobbes”

Here is the most fundamental idea behind game theory, the one concept you MUST understand to be an effective game player. Ready?
You are not a super genius, and we are not idiots. The people you are playing with and against are just as smart as you are. Not smarter. But just as smart. If you think that you are seeing more deeply into a repeated-play strategic interaction (a game!) than we are, you are wrong. And ultimately it will cost you dearly. But if there is a mutually acceptable decision point – one that both you and we can agree upon, full in the knowledge that you know that we know that you know what’s going on – that’s an equilibrium. And that’s a decision or outcome or policy that’s built to last.
 
Fair warning, this is an “Angry Ben” email, brought on by the US government’s “communication policy” on Ebola, which is a mirror image of the US government’s “communication policy” on markets and monetary policy, which is a mirror image of the US government’s “communication policy” on ISIS and foreign policy. We are being told what to think about Ebola and QE and ISIS. Not by some heavy-handed pronouncement as you might find in North Korea or some Soviet-era Ministry, but in the kinder gentler modern way, by a Wise Man or Woman of Science who delivers words carefully chosen for their effect in constructing social expectations and behaviors.

The words are not lies. But they’re only not-lies because if they were found to be lies that would be counterproductive to the social policy goals, not because there’s any fundamental objection to lying. The words are chosen for their truthiness, to use Stephen Colbert’s wonderful term, not their truthfulness. The words are chosen in order to influence us as manipulable objects, not to inform us as autonomous subjects.

It’s always for the best of intentions. It’s always to prevent a panic or to maintain confidence or to maintain social stability. All good and noble ends. But it’s never a stable equilibrium. It’s never a lasting legislative or regulatory peace. The policy always crumbles in Emperor’s New Clothes fashion because we-the-people or we-the-market have not been brought along to make a self-interested, committed decision. Instead the Powers That Be – whether that’s the Fed or the CDC or the White House – take the quick and easy path of selling us a strategy as if they were selling us a bar of soap.

This is what very smart people do when they are, as the Brits would say, too clever by half. This is why very smart people are, as often as not, poor game players. It’s why there aren’t many academics on the pro poker tour. It’s why there haven’t been many law professors in the Oval Office. This isn’t a Democrat vs. Republican thing. This isn’t a US vs. Europe thing. It’s a mass society + technology thing. It’s a class thing. And it’s very much the defining characteristic of the Golden Age of the Central Banker.

Am I personally worried about an Ebola outbreak in the US? On balance … no, not at all. But don’t tell me that I’m an idiot if I have questions about the sufficiency of the social policies being implemented to prevent that outbreak. And make no mistake, that’s EXACTLY what I have been told by CDC Directors and Dr. Gupta and the White House and all the rest of the super genius, supercilious, remain-calm crew.

I am calm. I understand that a victim must be symptomatic to be contagious. But I also understand that one man’s symptomatic is another man’s “I’m fine”, and questioning a self-reporting immigration and quarantine regime does not make me a know-nothing isolationist.

I am calm. I understand that the virus is not airborne but is transmitted by “bodily fluids”. But I also understand why Rule #1 for journalists in West Africa is pretty simple: Touch No One, and questioning the wisdom of sitting next to a sick stranger on a flight originating from, say, Brussels does not make me a Howard Hughes-esque nutjob.

I am calm. I understand that the US public health and acute care infrastructure is light years ahead of what’s available in Liberia or Nigeria. I understand that Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas is not just one of the best health care facilities in Texas, but one of the best hospitals in the world. But I also understand that we are all creatures of our standard operating procedures, and what’s second nature in a hot zone will be slow to catch on in the Birmingham, Alabama ER where my father worked for 30 years.

The mistake made by our modern leaders – in every public sphere! – is to believe that they are operating on a deeper, smarter, more far-seeing level of game-playing than we are. I’ve got a long example of the levels of decision-making in the Epsilon Theory note “A Game of Sentiment”, so I won’t repeat all that here. The basic idea, though, is that by announcing a consensus based on the Narrative authority of Science our leaders believe they are stacking the deck for each of us to buy into that consensus as our individual first-level decision. This can be quite effective when you’re promoting a brand of toothpaste, where it is impossible to be proven wrong in your consensus claims, much less so when you’re promoting a social policy, where all it takes is one sick nurse to make the entire linguistic effort seem staged and for effect … which of course it was. The fact that we go along with a game – that we act AS IF we believe in the Common Knowledge of an announced consensus – does NOT mean that we have accepted the party line in our heart of hearts. It does NOT mean that we are myopic game-players, unerringly led this way or that by the oh-so-clever words of the Missionaries. But that’s how it’s been taken, to terrible effect.  

I am calm. But I am angry, too. It doesn’t have to be this way … this consensus-by-fiat style of policy leadership where we are always only one counter-factual reveal – the sick nurse or the sick economy – away from a breakdown in market or governmental confidence. I am angry that we have been consistently misjudged and underestimated, treated as children to be “educated” rather than as citizens to be trusted. I am angry that our most important political institutions have sacrificed their most important asset – not their credibility, but their authenticity – on the altar of political expediency, all in a misconceived notion of what it means to lead.

And yet here we are. On the precipice of that breakdown in confidence. A cold wind of change is starting to blow. Can you feel it?

 

 

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Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:18 | 5329267 TheAnalOG
TheAnalOG's picture

.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:20 | 5329269 X.inf.capt
X.inf.capt's picture

<= MUPPETS

<= super genius's

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:21 | 5329275 TheAnalOG
TheAnalOG's picture

PULL THIS FUCKING SHIT ALREADY!  SIX YEARS AND IT'S GETTING OLD!!!

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:23 | 5329284 Pinto Currency
Pinto Currency's picture

 

 

Institute sound money.

Get rid of central planning in the economy.

You won't be angry anymore.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:35 | 5329294 hedgeless_horseman
hedgeless_horseman's picture

 

 

The mistake made by our modern leaders – in every public sphere! – is to
believe that they are operating on a deeper, smarter, more far-seeing
level
of game-playing than we are.

Obligatory post for this topic...

"What no one seemed to notice," said a colleague of mine, a philologist, "was the ever widening gap, after 1933, between the government and the people. Just think how very wide this gap was to begin with, here in Germany. And it became always wider. You know, it doesn’t make people close to their government to be told that this is a people’s government, a true democracy, or to be enrolled in civilian defense, or even to vote. All this has little, really nothing, to do with knowing one is governing.

"What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could not understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it.

"This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/511928.html

If you haven't read the book, They Thought They Were Free, then do so without delay.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:41 | 5329403 livefreediefree
livefreediefree's picture

If WWII was the Greatest Generaltion, millenials are the Compliant Generation. Was it the intent of our ruling elite to force the Millennials to stay out of the Great Debate? I don't think so. The millenials are so pampered, spoiled, and narcissistic that it is beneath them to fight for liberty and freedom. The Compliant Generation's highest goal is to become kept women.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:05 | 5329450 Pool Shark
Pool Shark's picture

 

 

Tim Matheson plays the part of the government:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LARx7M9s15w

"...you can't spend your whole life worrying about your mistakes. You fucked up; you trusted us."

 

[PS: Not to argue too much with the author's premises, but I submit a good number (possible majority) of us, are indeed not as smart as the 'geniuses' in TPTB.

If us were as 'smart'/hip as TPTB, most of the crap they've gotten away with over the last 101 years couldn't have happened.

Just take a random poll of persons on the street concerning current events (other than pop culture) and you'll fine them woefully uninformed/uneducated and apathetic. They don't even care that they're politically/economically ignorant.

just sayin'...]

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:57 | 5329870 Doubleguns
Doubleguns's picture

“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.” 
Friedrich Nietzsche

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 16:03 | 5330391 Keyser
Keyser's picture

Confidence? Pfft, I don't believe anything I hear and only half of what I see...  

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 20:59 | 5331681 max2205
max2205's picture

The greatest generation was really a bunch of sheep who did what they were told.

 

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:22 | 5331975 So What
So What's picture

this post fits right in the discussion here.

Let's put this Ebola outbreak into perspective.

Facts:
1)The populations of Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone are respectively 4.3 millions, 11.75 millions, 6.1 millions. Total combined population is roughly: 22.15 millions.
2)In these three countries where most of the Ebola victims have been identified, 8000 have been diagnosed and 4500 have died.
3)The populations of these three countries live in densely populated area, and lack adequate sewage systems in their neighborhood. Their healthcare systems are primitive at best. Their populations are exposed to infected corpses lying in street, infected family members and neighbors.

Analysis:

1)Even so we see a tiny fraction of .036% of the population getting infected and half of that dead over an 11 months outbreak.
2)So even living in these poor country, your chance of dying from Ebola is minuscule in an 11 months period.
3)With superior healthcare system, advanced sewage system in the US and Europe, the rate of infection and death should be even lower.

Ebola doesn't look so fearsome after facts are examined, is it?

The real threat is the suspension of laws, civil rights, and grabbing of power by scaring the bejesus out of the population. Everyone should be wary of this fear mongering. The real fear should be directed at The Power That Be.

Possible scenarios using Ebola fear mongering:
1)Crash market and bankers steal more money.
2)Escalate Syrian war.
3)Pass laws to clamp down internet.
4)Elect a traitor, globalist puppet into as president of USSA.

Please copy and post this as many times as possible.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 23:17 | 5332160 Cliff Claven Cheers
Cliff Claven Cheers's picture

HOAX! LIBERAL MEDIA FEAR-MONGERING! NOBODY IS SICK WITH EBOLA IT NEVER HAPPENED. THIS IS THE TRUTH. IF THIS WAS A REAL PROBLEM THE NUMBERZZ WOULD BE SO MUCH HIGHER NOW111! BECAUSE IT IS GOING EXPONENTIAL BITCHES!! BUT NOTICE THERE ARE NO PHOTOS!!!!!!!! TOTAL HOAX FOR DUH SHEEPLES WHO ARE ASSLEEP. YOU CAN ONLY GET EBOLA (WHICH ISN’T EVEN REAL BUT IS A PLOT) FROM EATING FRUIT BATS AND MONKY MEAT BBQ AND HAVING SEX WITH MONKY LIKE IN AFRICA. EBOLA IS JUST LAME-STREAM MEDIA HYPE THAT WILL NEVER COME TO AMERICA AND IT’S THE FED ALSO TRYING TO CRASH THE ECONOMY  !!LOL!!. IT'S ALL A CIA PLOT!!1 THE DOCTORS ARE IN IT FOR THE MONEIZ!! THE CDC AND WHO IS CORRUPT VACCINES CAUSE MENTAL ILLNESS AND THEY KNOW IT ON PURPOSE. THE FDA BANS RAW MILK BUT IMPORTS EBOLA LOLOLOLLLL! THERE IS NO EBOLA VACCINE EXCEPT FOR THE ELITES, AND THE VACCINE WILL MAKE EVERYONE STERILE SO BUG-OUT. THE FBI IS SPREADING EBOLA TO TAKE AWAY OUR FREEDUMS. IT'S SOCIALISM I TELL YOU THE END OF AMERICA THEY ARE IMPORTING EBOLA (WHICH IS A HOAX JUST LIKE 9/11!!) TO START THE DIE-OFF SO THE ELITES CAN TAKE OUR GOLD!!!!!!! AND GUNS!! IT’S A ZIONIST PLOT COOKED UP BY THE JEW-YORK FED ZIONIST COMMIES!!! WT7 WAS A CONTROLLED DEMOLITION AND A HOAX LIKE EBOLA AND AIDS! IT'S BEEN WEAPONIZED BY THE CIA IN NIGERIA I KNOW A GUY WHO WORKED IN THE LAB. I SAW IT ON DISCOVERY CHANNEL. IF YOU DON'T BELIEVIE ME THEN READ THE BIBLE IT'S ALL THERE. AL GORE THOUGHT THIS UP ALONG WITH HIS HOKEY STICK AND CHEM-TRAILS. THE DUMBOCRATS AND THE LIBBBBERALS WANT TO KILL AL HUMANS TO MAKE THE WORLD SAFE FOR SNAIL DARTERS SO WE GET GLOBAL EBOLA WARMING BUT IT'S ALL A FEAR-MONGERING HOAX WTFLOL!!1!!!1!!! TAKE VITAMIN-C AND YOU CAN'T CATCH IT BECAUSE EBOLA IS JUST LIKE SCURVY, AND COLLOIDAL SILVER IS ANTIVIRAL YOU SHOULD TAKE 100 GRAMS A DAY OF SILVER. A GUY GOT EBOLA AND CURED HIMSELF BY SMOKING POT AND DRINKING RAW MILK, THAT'S RIGHT, EXCEPT THE FDA. BUT ALL THIS IS A HOAX!11!! ZIONISTS THEY ARE LETTING AFRICANS COME TO AMERICA WITH FREE TICKETS AND TEH TSA IS IN ON IT TO KILL US ALL OFF. PREZ OBOLA IS MURDERING US ON COMMAND FROM TPTB, BECAUSE HE IS NOT A CITIZEN SO IMPEACH!. HE'S FROM KENYA WHERE THEY WEAPONIZED EBOLA 50 YEARS AGO LIKE WITH AIDS. IS THERE ANY EBOLA IN ISRAEL NO THERE ISN;T BECAUSE ZIONISTS. AND NONE IN ICELAND EITHER AND YOU KNOW ABOUT THOSE GUYS THEY ARE ALIENS. AND IT'S A GIANT HOAX DON"T FALL FOR IT!1!!1!!!eleventy! BECAUSE THE LIZARD SPACEMEN FROM THE GAS MINES AROUND URANUS THEY WANT OUR PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDS!!11! AND GOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 23:24 | 5332178 Ms. Erable
Ms. Erable's picture

Not bad, but you left out aspartame and fluoride. That, and it looks stolen from one of cougar_w's posts from earlier today.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 00:03 | 5332288 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

"I understand that a victim must be symptomatic to be contagious."

*Very dangerous assumption (that this is true). I have good & credible reason to suspect the public at large will learn of asymptomatic "carriers" of particular strains of filoviruses (including Ebola) who are able to transmit those viruses in a manner of ways.

Also, the mortality rate for Ebola is estimated to now have risen to 70% from a reported 50% just several days ago, suggesting that prior reports were erroneous, or that the current strain of Ebola is quickly mutating into a more lethal one.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 00:46 | 5332366 Handful of Dust
Handful of Dust's picture

"If you want to keep your confidence, you can keep your confidence."

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 05:01 | 5332567 Supernova Born
Supernova Born's picture

Ebola: SECOND health care worker tests positive for Ebola in Texas per Bloomberg Europe.

Grist for the distrust mill.

Way to go Frieden/Obola!!!

That "Frieden Protocol" is obviously crap. Frieden should resign.

[Tyler Durden was an insomniac. This late night lull in the US news requires a Euro-based authorized Tyler]

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 05:46 | 5332606 Czar of Defenes...
Czar of Defenestration's picture

YOU are correct; THE AUTHOR IS WRONG on this point.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 23:23 | 5332180 joe90
joe90's picture

Not understanding exponents

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 02:37 | 5332470 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

No. They are INCAPABLE of understanding Exponential Growth. 

 

(This is where I have a problem with the thesis of the author of the article. There are very few people who do have Genius IQs. But I will suggest strongly that many who have Bachelor's Degrees and Advanced Degrees do not have Genius IQs. Those people are the people who need to be concerned about their arrogance. They make up the majority of the people whom occupy the Government Bureaucracies. And they are also incapable of thinking Exponentially as they are LINEAR THINKERS. They lack understanding of basic Mathematics. Just look at their Budget Overruns and it is both demonstrative and evidential.) 

 

Even the minimal requirement for a Bachelor's Degree in any field is College Algebra. Roughly 28% have Bachelor's Degrees. And most of those graduates have forgotten much of that. They barely skated by in College. Roughly 2% can understand Exponential Growth and Exponential Modeling as the rest just do not have brains that are wired for the understanding.

 

For every new strain of influenza that infects a population there exists a Patient Zero. They do not understand that the Exponential Growth of infection originates frm that one person. They are only aware of the Flu when it blossoms out and it seems like that everybody has it.

 

They are completely and totally unaware when an extremely small percentage of the population is infected.

 

Actually I am hoping that Ebola is a False Flag or a hoax. That will be the best outcome. Then you still need to bug out. But in either way, whether it is a hoax, or, if it real, the time to bug out is NOW.

 

If it is a hoax then the Government will lock you down and strip you of your rights.

If it is not a hoax then the Government will lock you down, strip you of your riughts, and then to top that off you can bloody well die from the disease.

 

Thus bugging out is the only rational option regardless of whether or not this is a hoax.

 

Well the difference between this virus and the Flu Virus is the mortality rate. And when that blossoms out it will seem as if everybody is dying as that will be the case.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 02:58 | 5332480 espirit
espirit's picture

Now WHO is at odds with the CDC on Ebola incubation:

W.H.O. "alarmed" over false pronouncements of negative Ebola tests

Just as disturbing is the WHO's open warning that government health officials who are announcing negative Ebola findings in patients mere hours after them being tested are grossly misleading the public and essentially practicing quack medicine.

As explained by the WHO:

WHO is alarmed by media reports of suspected Ebola cases imported into new countries that are said, by government officials or ministries of health, to be discarded as "negative" within hours after the suspected case enters the country. Such rapid determination of infection status is impossible, casting grave doubts on some of the official information that is being communicated to the public and the media. [1]

In other words, WHO is telling us that all those public pronouncements by government health authorities are meaningless. An Ebola infection determination cannot be made in mere hours, it turns out. In fact, as WHO explains, a suspected case of Ebola must be observed and tested for 48 hours before any degree of certainty can be reached about the Ebola infection status:

Two negative RT-PCR test results, at least 48 hours apart, are required for a clinically asymptomatic patient to be discharged from hospital, or for a suspected Ebola case to be discarded as testing negative for the virus. [1]

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/047267_Ebola_outbreak_incubation_period_viral_transmission.html##ixzz3GC6ld8bk

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 00:49 | 5332368 Quentin Daniels
Quentin Daniels's picture

4)Elect a traitor, globalist puppet into as president of USSA.

 

That's been happening every four years for decades now...

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 06:14 | 5332650 barre-de-rire
barre-de-rire's picture

don't mention it, this guy think he's got the very unique bright truth about how system is working.

 

system is a whole self enclosed box.  the problem is whenever you want to upgrade something in a way of life for someone it does exact opposite effect on the opposite side of the box. it is unsolvable until you totally unmount the box, but humanity cannot revert to tribal organization, small group, autonomy, they are lazy, and the total knowledge to get to be autonom is too much for single human. simpler to go buy ready to go products.

 

actually they manipulate the box like a rubbik's cube, but they are realizing they cannot put 6 faces the same color....

 

 

 

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 01:46 | 5332442 Steverino
Steverino's picture

You need to add into your "facts" section the 2 MILLION in quarantine in Sierra Leone..

Then mention in your "analysis" that 10% of the affected population is already in quarantine..

 

Sort of changes how it sounds a bit don't it?

 

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 02:27 | 5332467 Attitude_Check
Attitude_Check's picture

Do you understand what a geometric series is?  Your use of "math" to prove your point shows you are definitely NOT a super genius.  In fact you have no idea what yoy are talking about.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 03:37 | 5332512 Duffy Duck
Duffy Duck's picture

your argument works better for ISIS than Ebola.  Hundreds of health care workers have died in Africa as the rate of new infections has been, in fact, climbing.

Faced with a single case in Dallas, a man was sent home, where he may or may not have infected several others, and a nurse ostensibly following CDC guidelines at a modern if not elite hospital became infected.

We are told that stopping commercial flights would worsen matters for reasons that are so specious I doubt Gupta believes them and doubt Jon Stewart, ever anxious to be glib and disparaging, understands the matter in the least.

What happens when it is not 1 patient but 5?

 

What happens when it gets into poor, densely-populated illegal immigrant communities?

 

Panic isn't wise, but your nonchalance is absolute folly.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 22:25 | 5337471 livefreediefree
livefreediefree's picture

max2205

Right. So 407,000 of theGreatest Generation were told to die fighting for their country. (If you'd like to personally experience how hateful the bad guys in WWII were, go to any campus and meet with a Lesbian Gender Studies professor). Meanwhile, Millenials wail en masse when bugs in IOS8 cause them to not be able to achieve their goal of 10,000 selfies per day.

Actually, your comment is idiotic. The Greatest Generation was the opposite of sheep. They were independent individuals, fiercely proud of their independence, not herbivore conformists like Millenials are.

A suggestion: Look up the word 'unselfish' in the dictionary. It's the only time you'll encounter it. Millenials certainly don't practice it

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:56 | 5329485 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Great piece.

The writer understands the current zeitgeist very well.

Now, what do we do about it?

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:24 | 5329663 SuperRay
SuperRay's picture

You'd think this fellow never heard of Edward Bernays. This government by manipulation has been going on since the twenties, with an exponential leap when the CIA was created, and another with the coup de tat in 1963.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:45 | 5331830 surfsup
surfsup's picture

Well before that was "Lord Palmerston's Zoo..."  Plenty of shenanigans in the 1800's as well...    Could likely anchor the current funk to the Inn Holder's guilds who saw about to "leverage" well known clientel with under age boys and girls and document the event sfor future potential use.  The story of our times is Leverage in more ways that one...   

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 02:35 | 5332471 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

I'm no angel, and I don't throws rocks at glass houses, but the sick shit that has gone down regarding massive pedophilia and the massive, decades long cover up in the UK is making me despise that motherf'king country with their cunt queen more with each passing day.

People should be executed en masse over there for what took place and literally nothing is being done!

I fully expect governments to rape their citizens figuratively but this shit with TPTB literally raping children can not be tolerated if we're to survive as an even semi-conscious and baseline moral species.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 20:40 | 5331583 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

Excellent excellent piece.  I want to note that the average person, at least the casual contacts I have almost daily, tell me they know transparently they are being systematically lied to.  

"They" never had any credibility, authenticity, or ability to "lead".  Larken Rose has some outstanding thoughts on "leaders".

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 23:03 | 5332119 WhyWait
WhyWait's picture

SWR, my experience talking with average persons is the same.  The Powers that Be had credibility 60 years ago, before Vietnam. More than they deserved - coming out of World War II where almost by accident they had aligned with the people of the world against the Nazi horde, and bouyed by the immense success of television and the corporate media hijacking of our culture.  They have long since squandered it.

The biggest illusion that still grips us is that "all those other stupid people out there buy the bullshit."  And every ounce of effort is being spent on forestalling the "new clothes" moment when there is such an outburst of derision that we all look around and see that we and our few most trusted friends are not alone in seeing through it. 

 

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 03:38 | 5332513 Haus-Targaryen
Haus-Targaryen's picture

No your generation is the one that is pampered and spoiled.

The greatest generation and their kids -- the baby boomers -- have taken the most successful nation in the world and destroyed it -- expecting my generation to pick up the tab. Were not. You're going to get cut off. Plan for it.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:42 | 5329405 negative rates
negative rates's picture

Someone open up the court house door!*

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:35 | 5329729 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

There are none so blind, than those who refuse to 'see'.  I call it Willful Blindness.

Willful Blindness resides not in the intellectual part of the brain (Frontal Cortex), but in the Mid-Brain (emotions, habits, relationships) and the Reptilian brain (sex & survival).  Whatever Worldview a person eventually espouses (whether by extension of early childhood programming/brainwashing, or later acceptance), they will invariably link them to the Mid-Brain and Reptilian Brain in their daily life.

That is why, when you challenge a person's Worldview (philosophy, politics, religion) there is so much Inertia to change their Worldview.  There is a lot of deep Emotional and Primal Baggage that has to come along also, and that tends to move VERY slowly in most cases.  Changes to their Worldview also implies (results in) profound changes in their real world.  And when people are asked to make large changes to their real world, then real inertia must be overcome.  Only a strong Emotional and/or Primal experience will jolt such people from their prevailing position -- if ever. 

Smart* people actively balance these three Players (Front, Mid and Primal) brains into a holistic whole, and will leave themselves open to new ideas.  They will happily explore, create or search for new mental models, and journey to the far corners of their Inner Galaxy.  They "boldly go where..." few dare to go, or (in some cases) none have gone before.

* Here I define 'Smart' in operational terms, i.e. People with IQ > 100, who use their Frontal Lobes for a living, or out of sheer Willpower (they are determined to become more informed, more imaginative and more creative).

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:10 | 5331931 Crisismode
Crisismode's picture

 

 

 

Utter drivel.

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:24 | 5331981 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

is udder drivel milk?

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 23:02 | 5332118 Janice
Janice's picture

No, otter drivel is pee

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 16:55 | 5330720 Loup Kib
Loup Kib's picture

Thanks.  One can even get it without delay :

  *They Thought They Were Free (PDF)*

-->   https://ia802301.us.archive.org/21/items/theythoughttheyw027497mbp/theyt...

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 17:27 | 5330864 felix2
felix2's picture

hedgeless_horseman, Will seek book

Read a book, cant remember name, by a guy who escaped communist Hungary to the US. He said the US was more successful because in Europe governments run on theories, whereas the US system was created based on experience. Colonists were forced by the King to establish local government, they had land grants which proved the value of private property, they got to live away from British rule

Problem today, Americans are being raised by the government, taught to evaluate problems with ideas instead of facts

Americans now expect the government to solve the problem. They are saturated with bogus polls to trick them into obedience

We have become Europe

Coming next, Argentina. That is Europe with Boobs

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:27 | 5331754 logicalman
logicalman's picture

In theory, you are correct, but a large number of thugs who are way better armed than you does have a way of colouring things.

Government is the problem, not the solution.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:26 | 5329300 CClarity
CClarity's picture

Breakdown in trust of all institutions.   Government, schools, doctors, judges, all those things we used to hold in high esteem.  Well, maybe not government, but an occasional leader.

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:53 | 5329469 Ms. Erable
Ms. Erable's picture

The author makes the common mistake of conflating intelligence with education. The western world's 'leadership' consists of a large number of people who have been educated well beyond their level of intelligence.

Because Idiocracy.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 20:24 | 5331557 jwoop66
jwoop66's picture

Thats fuckin good. 

 

Post of the Year nomination.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:06 | 5331696 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

Tip of that hat for that post, Ms Erable.  Well said.

If I can feather into that point something I've said for years on ZH.... "When all conservative ideas were lost to higher education, they were lost everywhere else by default.  We're just now seeing the results of that play out."

These nut bags aren't coming one at a time.  They're being home-brewed in our nation's out of control colleges and universities by the hundreds of thousands a year.  You wonder how there can be so many like-minded idiots, all seeking or already in positions of power, look no further than higher education.  That's where they come from.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:29 | 5331759 logicalman
logicalman's picture

Two other common mistakes, confusing schooling with education and currency with money.

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:31 | 5331762 Reaper
Reaper's picture

Intelligence is the ability to learn more quickly than those less intelligent. Education in our schools is learning to repeat what is taught. To think is to go beyond what is taught. Intelligence is to do it quickly. Why should the government hacks trust you, when their task is to train you to trust them. The expectation that government will lead is based upon the false trust that their education enables them to make better decisions than you. The fallacy of education without superior intelligence is that education solves the problems of the past and it lacks the intelligence to quickly adapt to the changing world.
The error is to trust that education and official office empowers the holders thereof with superior intelligence to adapt. Trust is an opiate to dull thinking of both the educated and uneducated.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 01:01 | 5332387 OldPhart
OldPhart's picture

I attribute it to the Peter Principle.  They rose to they're highest level of incompetence.

 

I describe it to those unfamiliar with the concept as 'the dumbest swinging dick runs the office'.  They instantly understand.

Um, oh yeah...I happen to run the finance and accounting office.

And the ladies in my office think I've got a great backside.  Everytime I walk away I hear them softly whisper "What an ass..."

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:21 | 5329276 kliguy38
kliguy38's picture

You're well over that precipice

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:36 | 5329352 WTFRLY
WTFRLY's picture

'Terror threat': Los Angeles quarantines city bus, driver after masked man yells "I have Ebola" http://wtfrly.com/2014/10/14/terror-threat-los-angeles-quarantines-city-...

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:47 | 5329433 negative rates
negative rates's picture

'Super terror threat' man thrown from a tornado yells, "I have ebola". 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:06 | 5329539 Pool Shark
Pool Shark's picture

 

 

...and then yells: "SHARK!" just for good measure.

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:57 | 5331884 LongMarch
LongMarch's picture

...inside a crowded movie theatre.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 04:30 | 5332554 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

There are actually laws against this type of behavior. Freedom of Speech does not cover this "expression of ideas".

 

If you are so foolish as to do this then plan your exit accordingly....so you can do it again???

 

Fire!!! Yeah. It is just like yelling "Fire!!!" in a theater.

 

It would be far better for someone to actually start the fire before yelling the warning. You are going to be caged either way.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:22 | 5329281 aVileRat
aVileRat's picture

Just as a thought experiment, what is the level of the SPX where ZH turns into a bull blog.

If you want to play along, honest and thought out answers only; because 666 and J00s is so 2013.

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:26 | 5329310 Philo Beddoe
Philo Beddoe's picture

It is the system that is in doubt rather than the level of any idicator. So, if the system changed.........fuck I must be drunk. 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:31 | 5329335 slyhill
slyhill's picture

Fuck some imaginary level of toxic bullshit. Ill be a bull when the Fed rate is 5% again.  i.e. never.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:46 | 5329424 Mike in GA
Mike in GA's picture

Doesn't the low before the start of the current bull leg have to be taken out prior to the new bull beginning, according to technical theory?  And isn't that low 666? 

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 23:09 | 5332141 Panafrican Funk...
Panafrican Funktron Robot's picture

"Just as a thought experiment, what is the level of the SPX where ZH turns into a bull blog."

Just as a thought experiment, what is the level of the SPX adjusted for changes in the quantity of total US currency, esp. since 2008?

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:27 | 5329319 Gringo Viejo
Gringo Viejo's picture

"Im lost. But I'm making record time".

.......WWII Navy Carrier Pilot that had to ditch in the Pacific

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:20 | 5329270 PAPA ROACH
PAPA ROACH's picture

"Bread and circuses" (or bread and games) (from Latin: panem et circenses) is metonymic for a superficial means of appeasement. In the case of politics, the phrase is used to describe the generation of public approval, not through exemplary or excellent public service or public policy, but through diversion; distraction; or the mere satisfaction of the immediate, shallow requirements of a populace,[1] as an offered "palliative." Its originator, Juvenal, used the phrase to decry the selfishness of common people and their neglect of wider concerns.[2][3][4] The phrase also implies the erosion or ignorance of civic duty amongst the concerns of the commoner.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 04:16 | 5332534 CASTBOUND
CASTBOUND's picture

I'm making over $7k a month working part time. I kept hearing other people tell me how much money they can make online so I decided to look into it. Well, it was all true and has totally changed my life. This is what I do...

                w­w­w.j­o­b-r­e­p­o­r­t­s.c­o­m

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:26 | 5329304 Bangalore Equit...
Bangalore Equity Trader's picture

Listen.

I understand Calvin. In the same vein, it's hard to put up with the ZH trolls and anti-Bangalorians.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:28 | 5329320 Philo Beddoe
Philo Beddoe's picture

I would make an even money bet that you are Fonestar. Not that I have a problem with that.  New rountine and new mask. What KISS should have done. 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:37 | 5329361 LFMayor
LFMayor's picture

You mean Peter still sings "Beth" on the 2nd to last encore?

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:39 | 5329378 Bangalore Equit...
Bangalore Equity Trader's picture

Listen.

FoneStar was Bitcoin core developer Gavin Andresen.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:42 | 5329395 X.inf.capt
X.inf.capt's picture

LISTEN...

(banger trolling,done)

 

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 04:37 | 5332559 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

Listen...You are clueless.

 

If you want to contact FoneStar then here is his YouTube channel...

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd8cUls2Ml2UxcbiC-sfVyw

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:39 | 5329381 IridiumRebel
IridiumRebel's picture

Bangalore is of a high sarcastic level that most posters do not get like MDB. The fact more people do not see his witticisms, betwixt snarky comments, that come off as troll like to underhandedly make fun of trolls is the most discerning. Sucks people don't "get him".

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:48 | 5329443 Ms. Erable
Ms. Erable's picture

Problem is that Bangalore is either far too subtle and/or just not that funny. Unfortunately, MDB doesn't post much these days, so we get stuck with sub-standard snark from one who is definitely not too smart by half.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:52 | 5329462 IridiumRebel
IridiumRebel's picture

I like the subtlety because it invokes convo. I do miss MDB.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:33 | 5329713 NemoDeNovo
NemoDeNovo's picture

Where is RobotTrader or his Mom for that matter?  Yeah I have been here for years...

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 15:17 | 5330026 Ms. Erable
Ms. Erable's picture

His mom is still here, albeit infrequently. And RobotTrader hisself? Based on his track record, he's probably suggesting trades for airing to Cramer's remaining (500 or so) viewership.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:16 | 5329612 Cobra
Cobra's picture

Last I knew, Foney was outed as gh0atrider... But that was a while ago.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:23 | 5329648 NotApplicable
NotApplicable's picture

That was an easy out, as the content of the posts was identical. Even easier when you check to see that even gh0atrider has been banninated.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:35 | 5329354 Emergency Ward
Emergency Ward's picture

I think Bangor, Maine is a fine place.  It's not somewhere I would choose to live.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 15:17 | 5330029 arby63
arby63's picture

Odd place Bangor. Sort of an amalgamation of Stephen King dark hypocrisy, Yankee Puritanism, disturbing social mores and Mississippi education levels. Oh, and weather worse than North Dakota.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 04:34 | 5332557 StychoKiller
Wed, 10/15/2014 - 04:50 | 5332573 Buckaroo Banzai
Buckaroo Banzai's picture

"Bangor? I barely knew her!"

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:26 | 5329306 robochess
robochess's picture

Not only do I feel it... it seems about 7 billion other inhabitants understand something's wrong. 

I invite all to review world affairs in the year leading into WW1 and WW!!.... and here we are smelling around WWIII. Do you doubt that that's the next move? I don't, and I certainly hope I'm as wrong as hussein obama. but again I direct you to the history books.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:36 | 5329360 dbTX
dbTX's picture

This is what fundamental change is all about....like it

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:37 | 5329365 limacon
limacon's picture

It is for your own good .

As they say in Norstrilia :
"We welcome immigrants . Our Defence Forces need the practice."

http://andreswhy.blogspot.com/2011/02/optimized-censorship.html

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:23 | 5331979 Ralph Spoilsport
Ralph Spoilsport's picture

"We bankrupt all invaders, we sell them souvenirs. If you fight, we'll call in your mortgages."

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:42 | 5329407 fiatmasochist
fiatmasochist's picture

Awesome prose, Mr. Hunt.

Yes, I have been feeling chilly these past 6 yrs. The wind has picked up with ebola.

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:44 | 5329411 vegas
vegas's picture

When you have "fairy-tale" political leaders; when half the population is more interested in "Keeping Up With the Dardashians" than anything of substance; when half the population are "takers" and don't do shit with their lives and expect government to do and give them everything; when kids are educated in political correctness instead of the basic facts of life; when the vast majority of Amerikans are delusional and disconnected, then what the fuck do you expect Ben?

 

www.traderzoo.mobi

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:49 | 5329452 negative rates
negative rates's picture

Status quo.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:49 | 5329442 Apocalaugh
Apocalaugh's picture

Your anger is a gift.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:30 | 5329695 NotApplicable
NotApplicable's picture

Well, it is for those who wish to control him remotely. Just like as with fear, anger replaces logical thinking with emotional.

Sure, it's nice that he's noticing the lies, but until one matures enough to realize that it's ALWAYS been nothing but lies, it is but a trap of a different nature.

For instance, none of the angered ISIS fighters will ever see anything positive from their actions. The people that control them though? Yeah, it's a gift to them, alright.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 15:13 | 5329996 negative rates
negative rates's picture

Maybe it's they who are bringing down the price of oil, nasty buggers.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 17:05 | 5330773 Apocalaugh
Apocalaugh's picture

You're right....anger replaces logical thinking with emotion.

Unfortunately, we're well past the point where logical thinking (or its community version - rational discussion) is going have any impact on the injustices he described.  If there's ever going to be any change, it's going to take action rooted in emotion...not reason or logic.

You want to change things?  Your anger is a gift.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:37 | 5331794 logicalman
logicalman's picture

If you make decisions based on anger, you will likely make bad ones, but if you harness it to keep your thinking sharp and control it, it can be a power for change.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 08:18 | 5332980 odatruf
odatruf's picture

I don't agree that "we're well past the point where logical thinking (or its community version - rational discussion) is going have any impact on the injustices he described". The problem is that there is zero evidence to suggest we are about to or likely ever going to begin that discussion in a sustained or meaningful way.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 15:28 | 5330121 marathonman
marathonman's picture

Use your anger and strike him down!

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:50 | 5329459 limacon
Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:39 | 5331801 logicalman
logicalman's picture

Truth just 'is'

How can you manage such a thing?

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:52 | 5329466 xcehn
xcehn's picture

Army virologists treat infected victims as non-contagious for only one day. The ebola deceptions and lies have already broken confidence. A PPT manipulated market induced by infinite overt and stealth QE is only amplifying how impossibly dire the status quo is.

11 HORRIFYING TRUTHS ABOUT EBOLA THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW:

http://www.naturalnews.com/2-Ebola-truths-pandemic-outbreak-preparedness...

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:33 | 5331767 Cliff Claven Cheers
Cliff Claven Cheers's picture

HOAX! LIBERAL MEDIA FEAR-MONGERING! NOBODY IS SICK WITH EBOLA IT NEVER HAPPENED. THIS IS THE TRUTH. IF THIS WAS A REAL PROBLEM THE NUMBERZZ WOULD BE SO MUCH HIGHER NOW111! BECAUSE IT IS GOING EXPONENTIAL BITCHES!! BUT NOTICE THERE ARE NO PHOTOS!!!!!!!! TOTAL HOAX FOR DUH SHEEPLES WHO ARE ASSLEEP. YOU CAN ONLY GET EBOLA (WHICH ISN’T EVEN REAL BUT IS A PLOT) FROM EATING FRUIT BATS AND MONKY MEAT BBQ AND HAVING SEX WITH MONKY LIKE IN AFRICA. EBOLA IS JUST LAME-STREAM MEDIA HYPE THAT WILL NEVER COME TO AMERICA AND IT’S THE FED ALSO TRYING TO CRASH THE ECONOMY  !!LOL!!. IT'S ALL A CIA PLOT!!1 THE DOCTORS ARE IN IT FOR THE MONEIZ!! THE CDC AND WHO IS CORRUPT VACCINES CAUSE MENTAL ILLNESS AND THEY KNOW IT ON PURPOSE. THE FDA BANS RAW MILK BUT IMPORTS EBOLA LOLOLOLLLL! THERE IS NO EBOLA VACCINE EXCEPT FOR THE ELITES, AND THE VACCINE WILL MAKE EVERYONE STERILE SO BUG-OUT. THE FBI IS SPREADING EBOLA TO TAKE AWAY OUR FREEDUMS. IT'S SOCIALISM I TELL YOU THE END OF AMERICA THEY ARE IMPORTING EBOLA (WHICH IS A HOAX JUST LIKE 9/11!!) TO START THE DIE-OFF SO THE ELITES CAN TAKE OUR GOLD!!!!!!! AND GUNS!! IT’S A ZIONIST PLOT COOKED UP BY THE JEW-YORK FED ZIONIST COMMIES!!! WT7 WAS A CONTROLLED DEMOLITION AND A HOAX LIKE EBOLA AND AIDS! IT'S BEEN WEAPONIZED BY THE CIA IN NIGERIA I KNOW A GUY WHO WORKED IN THE LAB. I SAW IT ON DISCOVERY CHANNEL. IF YOU DON'T BELIEVIE ME THEN READ THE BIBLE IT'S ALL THERE. AL GORE THOUGHT THIS UP ALONG WITH HIS HOKEY STICK AND CHEM-TRAILS. THE DUMBOCRATS AND THE LIBBBBERALS WANT TO KILL AL HUMANS TO MAKE THE WORLD SAFE FOR SNAIL DARTERS SO WE GET GLOBAL EBOLA WARMING BUT IT'S ALL A FEAR-MONGERING HOAX WTFLOL!!1!!!1!!! TAKE VITAMIN-C AND YOU CAN'T CATCH IT BECAUSE EBOLA IS JUST LIKE SCURVY, AND COLLOIDAL SILVER IS ANTIVIRAL YOU SHOULD TAKE 100 GRAMS A DAY OF SILVER. A GUY GOT EBOLA AND CURED HIMSELF BY SMOKING POT AND DRINKING RAW MILK, THAT'S RIGHT, EXCEPT THE FDA. BUT ALL THIS IS A HOAX!11!! ZIONISTS THEY ARE LETTING AFRICANS COME TO AMERICA WITH FREE TICKETS AND TEH TSA IS IN ON IT TO KILL US ALL OFF. PREZ OBOLA IS MURDERING US ON COMMAND FROM TPTB, BECAUSE HE IS NOT A CITIZEN SO IMPEACH!. HE'S FROM KENYA WHERE THEY WEAPONIZED EBOLA 50 YEARS AGO LIKE WITH AIDS. IS THERE ANY EBOLA IN ISRAEL NO THERE ISN;T BECAUSE ZIONISTS. AND NONE IN ICELAND EITHER AND YOU KNOW ABOUT THOSE GUYS THEY ARE ALIENS. AND IT'S A GIANT HOAX DON"T FALL FOR IT!1!!1!!!eleventy! BECAUSE THE LIZARD SPACEMEN FROM THE GAS MINES AROUND URANUS THEY WANT OUR PRECIOUS BODILY FLUIDS!!11! AND GOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:40 | 5332043 Crisismode
Crisismode's picture

 

 

You have been brainwashed by the Excellant Great Troll Lizards.

And, your pre-frontal cortex has shrunk by 90% during that sublime exorcism.

Unfortunately, they did not inform you about how to use upper and lower case on the keyboard.

Please put your pinhead skull down the nearest sink with a garbage disposal and flip the switch on.

Thank you.

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 23:38 | 5332224 t0mmyBerg
t0mmyBerg's picture

I actually laughed out loud when I read this.  Thx for the good humor

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 01:00 | 5332391 Cliff Claven Cheers
Cliff Claven Cheers's picture

Looks like u twos is a little slow in the sarcasm dept.  kinda sad on such obvious stuff if you leave the sarc tag off dim wits junk the shit out of perfectly funny posts. 

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 04:51 | 5332570 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

I did not junk it for the content which is satire...not sarcasm.

 

I junked it as it is a plagarism of Cougar's earlier post.

 

It needed to be quoted (with Quotation Marks) and properly attributed.

 

That is the epitome of intellectual dishonesty.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 00:13 | 5332317 Four chan
Four chan's picture

arrow down all caps, stop yelling. idiot.  ps did not read.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 00:28 | 5332342 Cliff Claven Cheers
Cliff Claven Cheers's picture

Its called sarcasm to the Ebola deniers, originally written by Cougar.  So fuck off douche nozzle if you cant read all Caps.  boo hoo.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 01:53 | 5332447 cornedmutton
cornedmutton's picture

I'll have some of whatever he's smoking.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:51 | 5329468 Vergeltung
Vergeltung's picture

this was excellent

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 13:53 | 5329477 sunkeye
sunkeye's picture

Bravo this ZH entry.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:06 | 5329541 RaceToTheBottom
RaceToTheBottom's picture

I was expecting more from this article.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:11 | 5329572 p00k1e
p00k1e's picture

They are wasting our time. 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:14 | 5329575 Seize Mars
Seize Mars's picture

Ok not sure what this article is really getting at.
He's upset with the status quo? M'kay.
He's not liking central planners and their desire to treat us like children? (By the way they don't think of us as children, they think if us as animals. ) Anyways he's upset that everything is fucked up because bad people have taken over and are running things?
Uh...dude, where ya been? Is your outrage new to you? Because some of us have noticed this for quite some time...

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:24 | 5329664 NotApplicable
NotApplicable's picture

I think it's hilarious that he talks about being a good gamer, yet completely fails to identify the real game, instead sticking to the Kool-Aid induced script.

Hopefully he's still young enough to grow out of this delusion.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 15:07 | 5329931 arby63
arby63's picture

The real game is to recognize the fact that the money-changers have complete control. They gained by offering welfare through their proxy politicians. Bought and paid for.

In addition, they recognized the utter stupidity of 75% of the electorate. Wasn't always that way.

The next chance for escape will be to ride out the economic "slow motion" collapse of the middle class (aka consumer).

No way the printing presses forestall the route on decent opportunity and wages. The gates are closing fast. 

Sure the bling of the iGadget still compels the morons; yet, "show me the money" is reality. Americans in large part are running out.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 15:16 | 5330012 negative rates
negative rates's picture

But not before their European cousins.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:18 | 5329620 Hoi_Polloi
Hoi_Polloi's picture

And you just figured this out NOW?

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:37 | 5329734 forwardho
forwardho's picture

This post should have had a Giant SARC tag at the bottom.

From the begining BS that we are all as smart as each other to the outright crap about telling lies to serve a greater public good.

ie;"The words are not lies. But they’re only not-lies because if they were found to be lies that would be counterproductive to the social policy goals,"

What kind of convoluted logic is that?

A lie steals the right of others to know the truth.

The whole premiss is an Edward Bernaysian spoof.

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:25 | 5331987 e_goldstein
e_goldstein's picture

You need to read up on Game Theory. In an adversarial model, or 'game' it is assumed that all actors start out with the same capabilities, otherwise progression of the theory doesn't work. It is ironic that the author calls out the actions of the "academics" and "intellectuals" in the government with a device that is the pinnacle of academic intellectual masterbation.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 14:58 | 5329878 In.Sip.ient
In.Sip.ient's picture

"as citizens to be trusted"

 

Correction...

 

AS CITIZENS TO BE OBEYED!

 

There, fixed it for you.

 

???...  You disagree???

 

Thought so.  Thats where the game ( always ) unravels...



Tue, 10/14/2014 - 15:20 | 5329911 Salsipuedes
Salsipuedes's picture

It's colder than a witch's tit kid. Don't tell me you didn't buy a sweater!

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 15:15 | 5330005 PrecipiceWatching
PrecipiceWatching's picture

I'll watch THIS Confidence Precipice too.

 

All part of the same edge we are rushing toward......

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 15:19 | 5330041 malek
malek's picture

The author is acting in a disinformation agent way - knowingly or unknowingly? I don't even care anymore.

The wrong underlying assumption is "they're doing this for everyone's best." (All good and noble ends.)
That is utter bullshit, the psychopaths in power look for their own best, and as second priority keep the sheeple alive and sedated (but just barely so, no unnecessary wasted effort here.)

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 15:20 | 5330050 eyesofpelosi
eyesofpelosi's picture

This reminds me of some endless EMO, whining, monologue that was common on TV shows like Party of Five.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7IxliAPjAk

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 15:24 | 5330080 worbsid
worbsid's picture

Ben, I agree with you completely but you should spend some time watching "Water's World" on youtube.  Get past the Fox News O'Reily bit. Know full well the correct answers have been cut but the remainder is amazing. In my experience, these people are not isolated. 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 16:07 | 5330430 10mm
10mm's picture

I am confident. I make sure rounds are available,barrel is cleaned,and tobacco is fresh.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 16:32 | 5330582 Brit_Abroad
Brit_Abroad's picture

I did give this a 1, very weak I thought.

Like a number of others here I didn't get much from this.

Oh, well what's a few minutes wasted.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 16:37 | 5330615 gswifty
gswifty's picture

We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler,
Machine gun hand
We got department stores and toilet paper
Got styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer
Got a man of the people, says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn, got roads to drive.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 20:45 | 5331645 lordbyroniv
lordbyroniv's picture

it all makes perfect sense

expressed in dollars and cents

....

 

pounds, shillings, and pence.

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 20:19 | 5331538 Shad_ow
Shad_ow's picture

http://fox10tv.com/2014/10/14/mfr-suspected-case-of-ebola-in-mobile-county/

 

Another possible case of Ebola in Mobile, Alabama

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 20:32 | 5331586 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Dude the money changers got hold of the press. What the hell did you think would happen?

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 20:53 | 5331669 Falconsixone
Falconsixone's picture

Precipice....lol

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:09 | 5331706 overmedicatedun...
overmedicatedundersexed's picture

all governments do is control- control is the answer to every question.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:37 | 5331799 thomasco
thomasco's picture

I think our "betters" have sacrificed their authenticity AND their credibility.  We the people are much smarter than they think we are.  Personally, I literally don't believe any thing from anyone in governmnet:  Federal, state and local.  Almost everyone I discuss the issue with laughs at politicians, and I have yet to find anyone who claims to have met an honest one.

 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:42 | 5331819 nightwish
nightwish's picture

The smart and informed lost confidence long ago. The general public are way behind the curve

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 21:46 | 5331843 Barnaby
Barnaby's picture

Oh lord the fallacy of the better man. From Marcus Aurelius to Ed Vedder, 1,900 years of intellectual torment.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:02 | 5331890 arby63
arby63's picture

Your Vedder crew sits back High in drugs. Great way to make a difference. Not.

Wed, 10/15/2014 - 05:17 | 5332587 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

Note that the Drug ENFORCEMENT Agency is not named the Drug ERADICATION Agency.

 

That is their job. They exist to ENFORCE those drugs upon the population to enable them to have control over them with ease. In that way they can remove their Civil Liberties legally...with cause.

 

The Center of Disease Control only recently added Prevention to their title. Yet still we do not call the CDC, the CDC and P.

 

Names of Agencies are very LITERAL. They have to be in order to fit into the tight Legal Framework which is set. (The Department of War name was changed to the Department of Defense after World War II. Why was that? Perception? ...or ... legality?...or...Both perhaps?)

 

Names of Agencies are not chosen by accident. It is all intentional...all of it.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:11 | 5331895 Unwashed
Unwashed's picture

When discussing game theory one must remember that empathy is a liability. Those most lacking empathy, the sociopath, have a distinct advantage when real people are effected by the game theory machinations.

Politics is game theory.

Any pretense of empathy by our political leaders is coldly calculated manipulation.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:07 | 5331922 arby63
arby63's picture

I don't think it matters anymore. Too late. Trouble on the horizon. 

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:08 | 5331925 homebody
homebody's picture

It does not matter how much "they" try to manipulate us sheeple - if we en-mass will not consume like we are supposed to for Christmas then the system of the control freaks fails.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 23:28 | 5332191 boodles
boodles's picture

Good idea.  Maybe we can return to the wonderful tradition of MAKING THINGS, by hand, for those we love. 

I bought, recently, a complete set of Ruskin's writings (he must have written everything he thought).  Ruskin advocates a simple life, almost medieval, of craftsmen/women who make things with their hands, not because they're blue collar, or can't get a job in finance, but because it is the most fulfilling way to go through life.

Of course, Ruskin is determinedly socialistic.  We all have blind spots, right?  I skip past his political bullshit.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:09 | 5331928 yogibear
yogibear's picture

Sample of future eateries and bars when Ebola comes to town.
TEXAS EBOLA HOSPITAL CAFETERIA BECOMES GHOST TOWN

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/10/14/Texas-Ebola-Hospital...

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:09 | 5331930 gwar5
gwar5's picture

We are the government. The civil servants are traitors. You give a key to the butler but it doesn't mean he owns the house.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 23:21 | 5332172 boodles
boodles's picture

Yes, but in real life, gwar, the government terrorizes us and forces us to do its bidding. 

Tomorrow afternoon, for example, my business will be "visited" by a government agency to determine if we're in compliance.  I've spent a good part of a month making sure I am compliant with every shitty, stupid regulation they've created. 

So, though we may see the government as our "butler," ut they see themselves as our masters.  Because of that, we have to comply with the butler's wee demands. 

 

Sad, but true.  The government is the enemy of our success.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 23:41 | 5332233 arby63
arby63's picture

true, if you comply

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:11 | 5331939 yogibear
yogibear's picture

GENERAL: ISLAND VACATION SEASON SPAWNS EBOLA FEARS
http://www.breitbart.com/system/wire/ap_fca7635efacc4ecf9d57b85352983e51

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:17 | 5331945 besnook
besnook's picture

you miss the advantage of the smart man. the fallacy of genius is what you describe, the only difference in intelligence is the speed at which knowledge is learned.

the advantage of genius is recognizing the bottom half of the class rules the world and invest accordingly, not only your money but your time. the corrollary to that is, "take care of the poor because they will make you rich", in the words of my grandfather.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:22 | 5331980 homebody
homebody's picture

I believe that being smart will not matter as much as being practical.  For our future, give me the poor man that knows how to skin and prepare a rabbit over the genius that can expound quantum theory.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:19 | 5331965 bid the soldier...
bid the soldiers shoot's picture

 

The management is very sorry you're having a problem with the current BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS.

The WORLD's population is over 7 billion.  Fracking shale oil put off 'peak oil' by 5  or 10 years, unless a ginormous, unpleasant economic event occurs, in which case it will be longer.

Wealthy nations let poor Africans founder in their primitive habitats while their leaders were bought and bribed to do the bidding of the First World.

The same Western leaders interfered in the politics of smaller countries everywhere, secretly organizing and promoting civil disobedience to embarrass and turn out current governments at the next election or resulting in situations like Syria and Ukraine.  And all their casualties.

Yes, there have been better BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS, but we have to play the WORLD we're dealt. 

  

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:24 | 5331989 koan
koan's picture

"A cold wind of change is starting to blow. Can you feel it?"

 

Feels warm to me, like a wind off a fire...

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:29 | 5332002 fibonacci's claus
fibonacci&#039;s claus's picture

HOOOOOOO RA!  Long live the patriots !!!  LIVE FREE OR DIE.

Tue, 10/14/2014 - 22:36 | 5332024 homebody
homebody's picture

I do recognize two distinct types of people on this site; the theoretical on one plane talking past the practical that realize what it will take to survive.  

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!