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Pity the Sub-Genius
From the Slope of Hope: They say be careful what you wish for. And, as is often the case, "they" are right.
As a kid, I wished the world favored the smart. I was a smart kid, and it seemed like the world - at least my world - was dominated by bullies and airheads. Might made right, just like in the times of old. My high IQ and love of learning were no match for popular dolts, so a portion of my childhood was wasted just trying to disappear into the background.
Unknown to me at the time, much of the adult world operated the same way. It didn't take a 
lot of intellect to have a respectable, enjoyable middle class existence in the world of the 1970s. The willingness to put in a full day's work (or, if protected by a union, a portion of a day's work) was enough to trump the potential impediment of a double-digit IQ. As I've mentioned before, my own uncle had a nice house, an even larger vacation home, and plenty of leisure time, and he worked inside the stink of a Louisiana paper mill.
The world did change, however, exactly as I hoped. My first indication was a cover story of California magazine titled "Revenge of the Nerds" with Steve Wozniak's smiling face and Apple-logo eyeglasses. It turns out the grey matter languishing in my head started to have value. At 15 years of age, I began writing articles for nationally-distributed computer magazines. At 16 years old, I wrote my first published book, which was followed by a couple dozen others. I was earning enough money to buy a Porsche in high school. It was suddenly cool - and profitable - to be smart.
The Simple World
This post isn't about my misspent youth, however. I simply use that as a point of reference, because the gap between the fates and fortunes of the "smart" and "not as smart" has become grotesquely large. So much so, I'm starting to yearn for the days when the cavemen among us had some say-so.
It wasn't that long ago that the world was relatively easy to comprehend. Take the world political scene, for example. It was stone-cold simple: the USSR (and its myriad satellite states and sympathizers) on one side and the United States (along with the rest of the "free world") on the other. The ideological differences were clear and comprehensible, even to young people, and nuclear-based Mutually Assured Destruction kept the globe on edge but largely at peace.
But ask someone, even a person who is very well-read such as myself, to explain, say, the conflict in Syria. You'd get a blank stare. To truly comprehend the political problems of the world these days, you practically have to make a career out of it.
Consider the same yesteryear for central banks: for all their illustrious titles and grand offices, the job of the bankers used to be to move interest rates down when the economy needed stimulation (and could risk inflation) and crank them up if inflation needed to be suppressed. Elementary school children could more or less get this, and and on the nightly news, if David Brinkley stated that the Fed has moved interest rates up 1/4% or down 1/4%, Joe Sixpack could grasp what that meant and how it would affect him. The world, as a whole, was a pretty straightforward place to grasp.
History's End
Everything changed, of course, after the financial crisis. In the examples cited above (the world of work, and the role of central banks), something big affected each of them.
In the working world (and I'm focused on the United States), several closely-related changes have conspired together to hollow out the middle class and create unprecedented deformations in wealth distribution. The majority of middle-class-supporting manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas. The kinds of jobs available to people with sub-breathtaking intellect are such things as retail sales clerks, fast food deep-fat-fryer button-pushers, and the poor devils at health care facilities that have to collect the bedpans. If you don't have a Mark Zuckerberg brain, you would have been better off in the 1950s than the 2010s.
The central banks, of course, have changed drastically as well. In the throes of the financial crisis, I (very naively, it turns out) figured the Fed was all out of bullets, because interest rates were at 0. After all, for my entire life, I was aware of the Fed's role in turning the dial up or down on interest rates, but I assumed (again, naively) that once rates were at 0, all the Fed could do was sit back and hope for the best.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
As we all know now, Bernanke's pledge to not monetize the debt was utter hogwash, and the nation is now $18 trillion (and quickly growing) in debt. The rich among us are ecstatic, because they are richer than ever. Everyone else is, once you strip away the nonsense and get down to reality, isn't one iota better.
I'm not here to regurgitate about wealth inequality and central banks, however. That's been beaten to death for years (and I would point you to my review of the sensational Great Deformation for my own recommendation of what book to read about these topics). What I wanted to address was how the vast majority of the world is awash in willful ignorance about what is going on around them, mainly because, as the Facebook relationship status message says......it's complicated.
Enlightenment Requires Effort
What got me thinking about this was this recent article on ZeroHedge about how Carmen Segarra's whistleblower case is being dismissed out of hand by a federal court under the most corrupt of circumstances. Perhaps you recall Ms. Segarra is the woman who covertly taped the breathtakingly close relationship Goldman Sachs has with the Federal Reserve "regulators". This briefly was national news, but most citizens have the attention span of a gnat, so the story went away.
The ZH article showed quite plainly how the judge (Ronnie Abrams) and her husband are very tight with Goldman Sachs. The conflict of interest is screamingly apparent, but Ms. Segarra and her whistleblower lawsuit are S.O.L. because, well, Federal Judges tend to have a lot of sway when it comes to the law.
But here's the thing: taking the time to even have an awareness of this kind of thing is something 99.9% of the public isn't going to do. Endeavoring to do so isn't simple. It doesn't have a laugh track. And there's no Kardashian in it. They just. Don't. Care.
Ratchet this up several notches, though: consider for a moment what it takes to understand the economic state of the world today. Consider all the elements: quantitative easing; foreign exchange cross-rates; sovereign debt; the spider's web of relationships between the economies of Japan, China, Europe, and the United States.
The fact that you've even made it this far into this obscure post easily puts you in the 99th percentile in terms of people who are interested in, and read about, the topics I'm addressing. This is not mere flattery to butter you up, dear reader. I really do believe that. Never, ever underestimate the ignorance of the general public or its laziness. Today's world is really, really complicated, and it takes a Herculean effort to have a basic understanding as to what's happening all around us.
As foolish as I think Jonathan Gruber was to wreck his reputation (and enormous consulting income) by spouting off about the ignorance of the American voter, ummm, the fact is, he's kind of right. He's very right, actually. I'm reminded of George W. Bush's retort to the notion that people in the military must not be smart; he declared them "plenty smart", which was as patronizing as it was inaccurate. I'm sure the intelligence of soldiers would follow the same kind of bell curve that any body of humans would.
As Slope's patron saint George Carlin once said on this topic: "Think about how stupid the average American is, and then realize than half of the population is stupider than that." If you have your doubts, take note:
+ 25% of Americans don't believe in evolution;
+ Only half of Americans could answer which of these three major religions was the oldest: Judaism, Christianity, or Islam;
+ More Americans can name at least two of the Seven Dwarves than two justices on the Supreme Court;
+ More Americans can name each of the Three Stooges than the three branches of our government
In that kind of environment, what percentage of the population do you think could successfully and articulately explain what the central banks of the world have done to the world? Five percent? Two percent? I think even that is too generous an estimate.
It's not that the subject is breathtakingly complex, like learning Arabic or quantum mechanics. It's just that the effort required to understand this stuff at even a superficial level is pretty significant, and very few people are going to bother. Hell, I was absolutely crazy about Great Deformation, and that was a multi-week slog through a 700+ page book with not a single graph or table. Awareness in our modern world is a lot of work.
And that, my friends, is why the elite have it made in the proverbial shade. If the highest reaches of society were holding up banks with machine guns, that crime would simple enough for the common man to grasp, and he might actually agitate for prosecution.
But a complex scheme to saddle future generations of the masses with debt in exchange for the immediate gratification of the rich getting richer? They've already gotten away with it. The masses have enough hamburgers to eat and enough Kardashians to watch on the tube. They're going to stay blissfully ignorant and just keep scraping along.
The 1% have won. Most of the 99% don't know and, thus, don't care. And a tiny subset of the 99% who are clever enough to see what the hell is going on might find themselves envying their less-knowledgeable brethren, since ignorance is, at times like this, a blissful alternate to awareness.
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Dwarves?
Disney not Tolkien.
You are a genius!
I am a union worker with sub-breathtaking intellect, but I do know how to spell dwarfs.
A good ol' boy once told me, "Well ya can't fix stupid". Nope but if you're smart, ambitious and hard working ya can herd em into a pen. That's too much work for me. I stay on the sidelines, watch the show, and try to stay out of the way in case they stampede. No wonder the oligarchs hold them in contempt. Jesus loved them though, called them His sheep(le?). I think He was trying to tell them to stop running around behind wolves bleating all the time.
He basically told us to cause no harm but the implication of self defense seems clear. If only everyone listened.
As long as people have food shelter TV and cellphones they wont bother with the super rich. It's a lot easier being poor under those circumstances than battling the powers that be. but eventually the rich will become so consumed with more power and wealth they will destroy the economy's ability to provide even thse basics for the masses and they will go down with everyone else in the conflagration.
As Carlin said, as long as they have "phones that make pancakes".
Motivation is driven by payment and people are motivated to make situation complex so people will shrug and let others deal with it.
Even simple situations are shrouded in fake complexity.
They don't want your assistance in understanding solutions, they just want your silence...
The herd does not want to learn, and until it affects their daily calorie intake they will continue to live in blissful ignorance. We will not get to a North American Union and regional Amero currency (and international SDR's) while there is a still strong undivided United States. Every government between Canada and Colombia is either under direct military control or through one of the various alphabet agencies and the cartels.
Just enjoy the controlled demolition as it progresses because there is nothing you or anyone else can do to stop it at this point.
The 0.1% are mostly psychopaths (or, to say it in "PC", are "empathy challenged". It's all about them. In most contests, he who can cheat and get away with it usually wins. That's why you need to pack the courts. That's how the scum always rises to the top.
Thinking is painful. Knowledge is the only a first key to power to escape, or cope, or take what you can. The 1% rule, because the 99% want to trust. That trust is their opiate. Who leaves an opium den for freedom or higher goals? The media provides information, not truth, nor deep perception.
The 99% want to be ruled. The 1% oblige.
You're spot on. Let's just ponder this for one second. How many of us have been in precarious situations within a group or crowd...dangerous, scary or similar? What are most common words uttered in each of these situations? In my experience, what comes to mind is these words as they look around nervously: "What should we do?" Most people are looking for an answer from someone else...a savior a hero. Most have been taught since an early age to look for their teacher, a cop, an authority of some kind to save them. That dependence is exactly what is needed for this shit storm we are in to perpetuate and last forever. We are indoctrinated to always look for a uniform to bail us out of any trouble. We are taught to hero worship cops, firefighters, military, politcians, actors. "Please Mr. Obama, Mr. Cloney, Mrs Clinton, what should we do? This is the American way.
As elucidated by your post, the need for collectivism stems from indoctrination and fear of personal responsibility. This can only ever lead to a situation ripe for those with the will, connections and economic power to take advantage. As a collective we beg for our slavery, then beg again to be given small concessions that we then proclaim as 'freedoms'. The only recourse is personal sovereignty, personal authority and personal responsibility.
We are childlike in our aspirations and political beliefs. This is starkly demonstrated by many baby boomers - so complete is the boomer's indoctrination and belief that age has brought them wisdom that they no longer see the bars of their cages. They are so like children in their need for laws and rules, sides and status quo as to disable them from examining any other view or questioning their reality . Boomers are just an example though, we're all on the same sliding scale somewhere. If I had to blame a root cause for our collective insanity, I would not blame stupidity, but childishness. Bland modern culture and its increasingly childlike fashions, media and attitudes provide more than ample evidence for this.
Painful for some, pure ecstacy for others. If we view society as an organism, then I am reminded of a quote of Bateman; it was something like, "If a function can be performed unconsciously, then the organism cannot afford to do it consciously."
Don't call me, "Dear reader"!!!!
Can I call you Piggy?
Shirley.
Hey call me shirly, but call me. Call me smart and I'll love ya forever.
Call me a cab and I'll punch you right in the nose. I always take the bus.
"Them belly full and we hungry ... A hungry man is an angry man" - Bob Marley
This is what it will take to wake up the masses, going to bed hungry a few days in a row. Until that happens we will continue on the slow glide, but that day will be the day the Empire hits the ground. Like many things, collapse happens slowly and then all at once.
Babylon System is the Vampire.--Bob
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNZcf8WtBiY
His prescience is alarming.
I tripped and fractured my toe two days ago. The wife says "go to emergency"...so i packed a few novels and headed into Antigonish, a small college town about 20 miles away. I was not surprised to be waiting 3 hours, when the nurse came out and said " We've had 3 ambulances just arrive so it will take a bit longer. Well, i looked at the others waiting, most were older, fragile looking, so i figured i'd be last to be seen. Ten minutes later, the same nurese come out and told us that some off duty doctors were being called in to handle the load....sure enuf, i was processed in about 15 minutes.
Now this is in Nova Scotia, not the richest of Canada's provinces...and even then , it is in the boony regions of Nova Scotia. It strikes me that the quality of care a society holds for its people is the truest measure of that society...and medical care must be the most basic need every citizen requires...so why not provide that basic need in the most efficient manner possible? I've followed the Obamacare debacle and it strikes me that your special interests have deliberately screwed with the solution to feather their own nests.....and that appears to be true of most of what i see happening in the US.
Oh, btw, there was no charge. My healthcard was the only id i required. Of course they dinged me in the hospital parking lot fo $5..
I believe the US should consider this: When you beggar your neighbor, you end up with a neighborhood of beggars.
No charge? Surely you're not stupid enough to believe that.
As a USA citizen ( we are all American, right?), I read your story, and agree, free basic health care should be a goal of civilized society.
And I ask myself, how can Canada fund this? And we cannot?
Well, for starters, I suppose it's nice to not have to worry, as a Canadian MP, about funding a reliable military of any consequence. Hey, big neighbor to south has that covered, eh?
Now I'm no fan of the military industrial complex in our country. But the way I see it, we should be collecting a nice protection fee from every country in North, Central and South America. Your welcome. Every one of you, and most of Europe have been getting the benefits of pretty minimal defense spending. True, we are forking you guys with the Dollar reserve status, but I think your getting the better deal.
And we USA citizens are getting raped by the Mil contractors, as it is now the only thing it seems we produce. ( an exaggeration, I know, but how it feels)
So all you Non-USA citizens out there, who feel so pious your social contract is so superior, best hope Big Bro doesn't flame out, because most of you wouldn't last 3 hours in a hostile national confrontation.
In other words, you've got NO defense, other than ours, and you would be up shit creek in a barb wire canoe with no paddle, in a war.
Again, your welcome. Enjoy your free healthcare, while we get fucked providing for your relative safety in this world.
Protection money? Nobody is asking for your "protection" Who do you think you are, Al Capone?
Besides, you do very well printng the world's reserve currency.
What's your property taxes? We pay over $10,000 per year + 4% increase every year. However, when a family member had collapsed lungs, an ambulance showed up in 2 minutes. Needless to say a hospital bill was over $200,000 for a visit, which was, of course, covered by a very expensive health insurance.
I guess there is always a trade off.
+1 but I have to add that a broken toe generally does not require a doctor. They can put a cast on your foot if you need to feel special, or you can just wear hiking boots for a few days if you need to walk around, otherwise just stay off it and rest up. Been there done that a few times.
Yup, you nailed it! But sometimes you need attention, and im no doc.
@breadonwaters - ;-) I meant no disrespect and you make an excellent point; also there was a pretty fun story behind my first experience with a broken big toe, but as I was typing I realized that it would probably be article-length, tl;dr - so I just stopped there with a little trying to help.
Peace.
I broke my toe two days ago as well.
No way I'm going to the doctor.
I live in Canada and waiting in the ER to have some brainwashed MD tape my toe to the next one?
Forget it, leave with a taped toe and C Dificile after 4 hours?
That said, I broke my arm and kept working for three days before getting a cast,...then sawed it off after three more days.
My wife made me go.
then sawed it off after three more days.
The cast or your arm?
j/k
Sawing off your own arm seems extreme. Was it really that badly broken?
A Sub-Genius must have Slack!
"If you act like a dumbshit, they'll treat you as an equal."
-- J.R. "Bob" Dobbs
Man up Tim. Unless you enjoy taking it up the rear.
The only path forward for you is political involvement.
To be successful however, you are paradoxically going to have to enjoy taking it up the rear.
But you get to give it as well.
Yes, the world is a nasty business, but your ignorance is gone and so is your bliss.
good write up and yes you describe us zh'ers to a tee.
i got here(to this place of understanding) via the sub prime crisses, (squeezing me out of real estate).
if knowledge is power, how come I feel powerless over this evil greed?
Oh yea, I can do the right things though(and i am but once again i am in that 99th percentile of futility)...
Here's a cartoon to help the ignorant out of bliss:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mII9NZ8MMVM
But what could make them want to understand?
It is simple really: "monkey want banana".
There are a lot of not so bright people out there, which is why moral and ethical leadership and institutions are so important.
People with lower IQ's may not be able to write code or make it through organic chemistry, but they know when they are getting a raw deal.
History teaches that people who are oppressed and treated unjustly for long enough topple nations and empires.
Without a square deal and something productive to do, the dim-witted and intelligent shake the banana tree together.
I always thought I was 'smart' when I was young too. I always achieved high marks in school till I got kicked out or dropped out in grade nine, can't remember. I just remember there was not much interest for me in school learning.
That is the Achilles Heel for those who think they are more intelligent than our fellow man. We are no different that those white folks who dismiss people of other color as less than or religious fanatics who believe they are the only ones going to 'Heaven'.
A smart person can do some pretty dumb things and some not so smart individuals can surprise with a burst of thinking power.
As soon as I read your self discription how smart you were, I quit reading. Circumstances, focus and luck led to your making money in your youth. The article has as much credibility in my mind as Mensa.
By white people you mean the Mexican oppressors, right?
Everybody knows, the Spaniards conquored the Native Mexican peoples. Now the Spaniards are among us, in the form of Mexicans.
I call it Mexican privelage. Every time I see a Mexican I think to myself, those fucking Mexicans with all their privelage. I can't believe the way the Spaniards killed off millions of South Americans.
Now the Mexican/Spaniard colonialists are trying to invade the United States to further spread their manifest destiny ideals.
I can't stand Mexicans- the way they represent Euro-colonial oppression, the way they think they can dominate other ethnicities.
This is a long way of saying, Mr. Cherry Picker, I think you are an idiot for thinking "those white folks" is an accurate description of a particular group of people. Maybe when you start feeling less sorry for yourself you can can have a better life.
Zzzz
3/10
Learn to troll faggot.
The dominant elite ready to break the "social contract"
Hyper-automatization will allow the super-rich to “get rid” of the rest
http://failedevolution.blogspot.gr/2014/08/the-dominant-elite-ready-to-b...
I'm not convinced that simplicity existed in the first three quarters of the 20th century. I believe leaders of the 1920s created an illusion of simplicity.
By 2000 the illusion of stability created by stable inflation indecies meant thatanyone could become a leader.
As shadow banking collapses, will anyone in power realise that you can't fix a problem with the same thinking that created it?
and if they did, would people keep following them?
How many people in this world even want to understand inflation? Most people prefer simplicity to truth and therefore accept the interposition of the word Real when economists talk about inflation.
Who would accept that inflation is a drug that causes more problems than it solves?
Things were simpler, not better or worse, just less complex. Now it is becoming nearly impossible to separate the bullshit from the useful. Ever year the majority become less and less capable of taking care of themselves and rely on the "smart" people. Things can't continue and civil collapse is the best we can hope for.
That's me, every single fucking day.
Every year the lowest common denominator gets a little lower. You become famous by making a sex tape or scamming people for billions of dollars. We're well past hopeless and nobody cares. The barbarians are not at the gate, they control the gate. On and on, all we can do is try to survive the coming crash.
"Free" is what the system fears. Not "freedom."
Smart as one is...there is always someone smarter. In the end "collective wisdom" always wins.
yea, really cant squeeze another 1 percent out of the 1 % and share it with the 99 percent(ethically).
geeze, there i go thinking like an honest person...
some call it profit sharing.
The goal has never been to squeeze anything out of the 1% for the 99%.
It is to squeeze out of the 99% of the future for the present 1%